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Srinagar, May 26, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the authorities shifted more than 200 political detainees from Central Jail, Srinagar to jails in Kathua, Kupwara, Baramulla, Mattan and Islamabad since April, this year. As many as 525 inmates, including leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami besides those detained under draconian law, Public safety Act (PSA) were lodged in the central jail against the capacity of some 350 inmates till April. A prison department official said, no fresh lodgment was made in the jail since the April incident. Going by the figures, if the current inmate population is 316 against the 525 in April, it means over 200 inmates have been shifted from the jail.
“The inmate population is now less in the central jail. The current inmate population in the jail is around 316,” he said. “The inmates were shifted to Kathua, Kupwara, Baramulla, Mattan Islamabad and others,” he added.
Yasir Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, who went to the highly fortified Central Jail to meet his brother and a cousin lodged in the jail in a fake case told media, “The moment he sought permission from the cops guarding the jail, he was surprised to know that his brother, who was in custody for nearly a year, was among many prisoners shifted to other jails in the territory.”
Yasir grew anxious and could only ask the cops if they knew about his brother’s and cousin’s exact jail lodgment. “When I asked for permission to see my brother and cousin, the policemen said they have been shifted from the Central Jail,” he said, adding this was done without informing the inmate’s family.
Yasir said his family somehow got to know about his brother’s current lodgment and some days back, he met him in District Jail, Islamabad in South Kashmir. Shifting of prisoners from the Central Jail to other jails of started in the garb of an incident took place inside the central jail in April.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
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Email: info@kmsnews.org
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