‘Militants kept in separate groups in jail’

Prisoners, alleged members of different militant organisations, are kept in separate groups based on the militant outfit they belonged to, the inspector general of prisons said today.

“The militants from one group cannot mix with the militants from another group inside the prison,” IG Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin told journalists in reply to a question at the Prisons Directorate in Bakshi Bazar of the capital this afternoon.

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Along with this, general prisoners are kept away from them so that they are not radicalised, Iftekhar Uddin said.

It is not possible to keep each prisoner separately as there is not enough space inside the jail, the official said.

The IG said it takes about two to three months to identify which militant groups they belong to. According to jail code, the court inspector is supposed to hand over to the jail authorities the militant’s background information along with the jail warrant, he said.

“But the court inspector is not doing it. That is why we are not able to categorize militants instantly,” the official said adding, “We only get to know of their charges but the full report comes later in two to three months.”

This obviously creates some problems as the prisoners intermingle with general prisoners before they are categorized, the official said.