Phones behind bars: Prison chief admits AL inmates still talking

Awami League leaders and activists held in jails are still illegally using mobile phones to communicate with people outside, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Motaher Hossain admitted on Tuesday, though he said the practice had declined from its 2024 peak.

Briefing reporters at the Department of Prisons Headquarters in Old Dhaka, he said more than 3,000 mobile phone sets had been seized over the past year. "They are talking. I cannot give a cent-per-cent guarantee that they are not talking," he said, adding that no prisoner was being given extra facilities.

Over the past two years, 1,276 prison officers and staff have faced punishment for offences including supplying narcotics and helping Awami League inmates use mobile phones. Of these, 21 were forced into retirement, 82 dismissed, 303 removed from their posts, and departmental action taken against 870 others.

Asked about inmates who fled during the July mass uprising, the  IG Prisons said 2,247 prisoners had escaped from various jails, of whom 690 – including three militants – remained at large. Records of 166 inmates who escaped from Narsingdi Jail had gone missing, making them impossible to identify, he said, adding that law enforcement agencies were working to arrest the remaining escapees.

He said 122 inmates were currently receiving treatment at hospitals outside the jails.

On foreign nationals, he said 379 were currently held in Bangladeshi jails, of whom 170 had completed their sentences, with efforts under way through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to repatriate them. 

Seventeen foreign inmates had died in custody; two Indian nationals' bodies were sent home, while others were buried according to religious rites after being held for three months, in line with regulations. Three bodies remain in mortuary freezers.

Bangladesh currently has 75 jails, of which 21 require repair, Brigadier General Hossain said. Work is under way to transform the Bangladesh Jail into the "Custodial and Correction Service, Bangladesh," with a draft Custodial and Correction Service Act 2025 awaiting approval.

The government has approved 1,899 new posts for the department, with a further 1,500 awaiting approval. A waste management plant has also been launched to improve disposal, he said.

New security measures include body scanners, luggage scanners, mobile phone detectors, ground-sweeping machines and mobile-jamming systems, alongside plans to install AI-based CCTV and body cameras.
Senior department officials were present at the briefing.