57 Pakistani prisoners shifted to barracks

The Punjab Government on Friday segregated 57 Pakistani prisoners, lodged in five jails of the state, from other prisoners and also ordered to check the food given to them.

Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), Punjab, R P Meena said: “The government has directed the superintendents in various Punjab jails to shift Pakistani prisoners inside barracks and not allow Indian prisoners to interact with them.”

“Twenty-four-hour watch is also being kept on them as we have deployed armed policemen to guard,” he said. As many as 57 prisoners, including two women, were segregated.  Of the 57 prisoners, Amritsar Jail has 38 prisoners, Ferozepur (8) , Ludhiana 2, Kapurthala (2), Patiala (3) and Nabha (4).

Sources with the jail told Express that Pakistani prisoners would not be allowed to come out of their barracks till further orders. Normally, they are allowed to move in jail compound from 10 am to 2 pm. The jail officials have also been instructed to check the food given to these prisoners and supply them directly to their barracks, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Jail Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur expressed concern over the attack on a Pakistani prisoner in Kashmir and added that the security has been beefed up as a precautionary measure to protect all the 57 Pakistani prisoners languishing in Punjab jails.

Phillaur also said that 28 Pakistani prisoners in Amritsar, who already completed their terms, have been lodged in a transit camp within the jail.