Published : 18 Aug 2026, 08:06 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:33 AM
A total of 690 inmates who escaped from prisons during the July Uprising in 2024 remain at large, according to Inspector General of Prisons Syed Md Motaher Hossain.
Speaking at the Department of Prisons on Tuesday, he said 2,247 inmates had escaped during the Uprising, with 166 still unaccounted for.
All 166 are from Narsingdi District Jail, Motaher said, adding that the department has no information on their whereabouts.
More than a dozen prisons, including those in Gazipur and Narsingdi, came under attack during the 2024 movement.
Nine militants were among those who escaped.
Motaher said two militants remain at large following the arrest of a militant identified only as Juwel.
The prisons chief also said Bangladesh’s jails are holding more than twice their intended capacity.
The 60 district jails and 15 central jails have room for 45,000 inmates, while 98,000 people are now behind bars, he said.
After the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024, large numbers of its leaders and activists were arrested and sent to jail.
Some have since died while in custody, with their families and the Awami League alleging that torture contributed to the deaths.
Asked about the claims, Motaher said: "There's no negligence on our part. As of now, 122 inmates are receiving treatment at hospitals outside the jails.
"In 2025, 187 inmates died, and this year, 122 have died so far."
He said jails were facing a shortage of doctors.
Asked about reports that banned Awami League activists in different prisons were using mobile phones, Motaher said he could not guarantee that no inmates were making calls.
He said authorities were not giving anyone any leeway and had seized more than 3,000 mobile phones over the past year.
According to him, the number of seizures has been falling gradually.
379 Foreign Inmates
The inspector general said 379 foreign nationals are currently held in different jails.
“Of these inmates, 170 have completed their sentences but are awaiting return to their home countries. Communication is under way through embassies and the foreign ministry to send them back.”
Asked a separate question, Motaher said arrangements had been made for around 17 bodies of foreign nationals over the past two years, of which two were sent back to India.
Under existing rules, bodies of foreign nationals are preserved for up to three months, he said, adding that three bodies are currently kept in cold storage.
If no family member or foreign representative comes forward to claim a body, DNA samples will be preserved and the body dealt with according to procedure, the inspector general said.
