Ex-IG prisons keeps successor at bay

The newly appointed Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Brigadier General Shah-e-Alam is yet to take up the mantle of the wayward jail administration as his controversy-ridden predecessor Brigadier General Zillur Rahman appears reluctant to join his fresh posting even over a week into his transfer order.

Zill}r, transferred on October 5 in the wake of allegations of corruption and mismanagement against him, is reportedly lobbying hard to get cancelled his new posting as director at Sylhet Medical College and Hospital.

"I will go over there only when the government wants me to go," he told The Laily Star Tuesday.

Asked if he had received the transfer order, he said: "Yes, I've got new posting. But why should I tell you if I had received the order?"

The government responded to the allegations of irregularities against Zillur in several reports filed by different aoencies with the home ministry only by transferring him to the new post.

Zillur, once very vocal against reports of prison irregularities, claimed corruption in jail administration reached a new height at an informal press briefing at his office on Saturday.

There is no-one to check the crime as corrupt officials, employees and guards make regular payment to some top jail officials, he alleged.

Enraged at his comments, many senior officials of the country's 66 jails told The Daily Star that Zillur started screaming about prison corruption only after he was transferred on grounds of massive corruption.

"Being the top man at the Jail Directorate he must shoulder the responsibility for corruption and mismanagement, if there is any," said a district jailer yesterday, preferring anonymity.

The then IG has recommended punishment of two deputy IGs for corruption, but they only carried out his orders, he pointed out.

"Why did he hide all the jail corruption and irregularities and disclosed those only after his transfer?" the district jailer asked.

Many jail staff, meanwhile, welcomed Zillur's removal from the directorate but expressed resentment over appointment of another no-departmental officer as new IG. The practice of appointing army officers to the post began in 1977, which goes against the jail code.

However, Zillur was all praises for his own stint at the prison helm. The authorities recommended punitive action against three DIGs and awarded punishment to 1,500 jail staff including guards over the last two years to stop the corruption and mismanagement, he was quoted as saying by some newspapers on Sunday.

"Transparency has been restored in the jail administration and corruption is now under control. The inmates are getting quite good food and treatment," claimed Zillur and added that there is no such precedent in other administrations.

He then went on to contradict his previous claims, though, saying authorities have been struggling to contain corruption and irregularities.

Zillur even admitted that inmates suffered miserably as most of the funds for foods and medicine were gobbled up in the last five years and that the government had to chip in with crores of taka in compensation every year.

The prices of medicines are shown to be even twice the original price. A group of jail officers and employees in collusion with suppliers siphoned off hefty amounts of money over the years by purchasing each of 106 food items at four to five times the original price.

He also touched on the bribery aspects at jails. A prisoner or detainee has to offer kickbacks at several stages once he or she enters jail and Tk 3,000-4,000 can ensure a day's comfort at jail hospital.

Interestingly, when the same allegations were made against top Jail Directorate officials in a report of The Daily Star on August 14, his office was quick to refute them. It had then claimed that six ministers and eight secretaries led by the law minister and chief justice expressed satisfaction with the prison management after a visit to Dhaka Central Jail on June 3.

Again, it was Zillur who fended off anomalies in ration purchase telling The Daily Star, "I cut down the representation of prison staff in the food purchase committee and co-opted a civil surgeon, a social welfare officer and a representative of the district magistrate in order to reduce malpractice."

"There is an officer from the Drug Administration on our medicine purchase committee to ensure quality and transparency in medicine supply."

"No authorities, district magistrate, judge and government and non-government inspectors made any such comments (on irregularities and corruption) in last two years," read an August 18 statement sent to The Daily Star by Additional IG Sirajul Karim on behalf of the then IG.

The administration now saves 20 percent public money on medicine purchase from government-approved companies, he boasted then.

But sources said the directorate bought medicines from lesser known companies, which offered 60-80 percent commissions to jail bigwigs.

A senior jail officer said the then IG himself had given the final approval to the rates put forward by the tender committees of all the jails.