Central jail outside city

The Dhaka Central Jail is set to be shifted from Nazimuddin Road to a newly built facility in Keraniganj on the outskirts of the capital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the jail-1 of the new prison tomorrow.

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Prison authorities said the relocation was intended mainly to improve the facilities and living conditions of the inmates.

The shifting is likely to be completed in around 12 phases within this month. The prisoners will be taken to Keraniganj after ensuring adequate security there.

Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj on the outskirts of the capital. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the jail-1 of the prison tomorrow. The photos were taken on Thursday. Photo: Palash Khan

The administration department, logistics and important documents of the Dhaka jail will be first taken to Keraniganj, said Col Fazlul Kabir, additional inspector general of police (prisons).

The new jail has been set up on 194.41 acres of land, according to the website of the prison authority.

There will be two jails, including jail-1, for male inmates and one for females at the new prison. Besides, there will be a platform for execution, a hospital and residential units for prison staffs, said the IGP.

The female inmates will be shifted to Kashimpur central jail in Gazipur as the female jail unit in Keraniganj is under construction.

The seven units of jail-1 will have a capacity of 4,590 prisoners. There will be two six-storey buildings for the convicts. Each of them will accommodate 500 convicts, Fazlul told The Daily Star.

There will be separate buildings for risky inmates and prisoners with division facilities in Keraniganj, he added.

The IGP said the Dhaka Central Jail now accommodates over 8,000 prisoners against its capacity of 2,600.

A training institute, a park and a museum will be set up on the premises of the Dhaka jail, he added.

According to Banglapedia, the Old Dhaka jail was built on 36.76 acres of land. The prison's history dates back to the eighteenth century.

A “criminal ward” was built in Dhaka in 1788, says the website of the prison authority. Later, the prison was built on Nazimuddin Road which became one of the largest jails in the country.

The jail authorities received the land in Keraniganj from the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office in May, 2004. They later handed it over to the Public Works Department for building the structures. The construction of the new jail began in 2008.

About the allegation of poor construction work, IG (Prison)               Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin               said they informed the higher authorities about some lapses in the construction.

He hoped they will be able to restrict the use of mobile phones and drugs by the inmates.