Inmates of Dhaka Central Jail being shifted to new prison at Keraniganj

The shifting of prisoners from the 200-year-old Dhaka Central Jail to the newly built prison at Rajendrapur, in Keraniganj, has started.

A senior assistant commissioner told bdnews24.com the transfer began at 6am on Friday with the help of eight prison vans.

Almost 4,000 of the prison’s 6,400 male inmates were transferred to their new cells by 3:00pm, Dhaka Central Jail's Senior Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir told reporters.

Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin, inspector general of prisons, hoped the entire exercise would be completed in a day. But if all inmates are not shifted by 6:30pm, the move will have to be resumed on Saturday, he said.    

The vans carrying the prisoners are moving under tight security, escorted by eight police and RAB vehicles, accompanied by a Fire Service unit and an ambulance.

Prison officials said over 2,500 law enforcers had been deployed to provide security during the challenging transfer operation.

The new prison at Rajendrapur is located 12 kilometres away from the old one built in 1788 on Nazim Uddin Road.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new facility, having a capacity to hold 4,500 inmates, on Apr 10.

Prison authorities say the Dhaka Central Jail housed nearly 8,000 prisoners, 6,400 of them male, and the rest female inmates. The women prisoners were earlier shifted to the Kashimpur jail.

Senior Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir told bdnews24.com furniture, equipment, files, and other essentials had been already been sent to the new facility, though the transfer of inmates began on Friday.

Dhaka Central Jail, Keraniganj

>> Location: Rajendrapur of Tegharia Union
 

>> Cost: Tk 4.06 billion
 
>> Area: 31 acres

>> Capacity: 4,590 inmates

>> Commencement of construction: 2007

The plan to build a new prison had been first mooted in the 1980s but land acquisition for it began only in 2006.
 
The project work began in September the following year at an estimated cost of a little over Tk 4 billion.

Unlike prisons of the British era, the walls of the Keraniganj jail are not sombre brick-red. The buildings are more spacious and security arrangements modern.

The under-trial inmates will be housed in six six-storied buildings, each floor having 40 cells, and the convicts in two similar structures. Four four-storied buildings will house hardened criminals as well as militants and terrorists.
 
There are 16 special cells for VIP prisoners.
 
An 18-ft high wall encircles the prison complex, while each building inside has its own boundary wall, separating it from the rest.