Jails have 34,337 more prisoners than capacity

Against the capacity of accommodating 42,866 prisoners, 77,203 inmates are staying at 68 jails across the country, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at Jatiya Sangsad yesterday.

Replying to a query of ruling AL MP M Abdul Latif from Chattogram-11, he said among them, 40,937 are men and 1,929 are women.

Kamal said all the jails except for Jashore, Sylhet, Dinajpur, Feni, Pirojpur, and Madaripur have more prisoners than their capacity. He said expansion of Mymensingh, Cumilla, Khulna, Narsingdi, and Jamalpur prisons is in progress. Once the work is completed, they will accommodate 5,000 more prisoners.

The home minister said the country's sole women's central jail in Kashimpur has a total capacity of 200 prisoners, but now 634 ones are staying there.