Relatives protest refusal to receive food for jail inmates

Several hundred relatives of the inmates of Dhaka Central Jail staged a demonstration in front of the jail gate yesterday as the authorities refused to accept food, which they carried for their inmates.
Locals said the hour-long agitation caused severe traffic congestion on different roads adjacent to the jail gate. Police brought the situation under control at 1:00pm.
Some agitating relatives said they brought food for their dear ones on the occasion of the Ekushey February what they did in the previous years but yesterday they were refused and misbehaved, causing resentment among them.
Being refused, the relatives brought out protest processions in front of the gate demanding permission to send food to their relatives, they added.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) Golam Rahman of Chawkbazar Police Station said the agitating relatives in several groups tried to bring out processions but they (police) foiled the attempts.
Senior Jail Super Tauhidul Islam said as per jail code, there is no provision of accepting foods for inmates from outside the jail but the authorities accepted such food at times on humanitarian grounds.
They stopped accepting outside food as cannabis was found hidden in a curry box sent to the jail, he added.
The jail super further said that they already announced that they would not accept food for the jail inmates on February 21.
Chawkbazar police said the jail authorities handed over Alamgir Hossain to the police station with some cannabis and a case was filed in this connection.