Pakistan's first-ever high security prison ready for inauguration

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's first-ever high security prison, where dreaded terrorists will be kept is ready for inauguration in Sahiwal in Punjab province.

The jail has been set up after militants staged spectacular jail-breaks in the previous year to set free hundreds of terrorists.

The jail, constructed on 98 acres with an estimated cost of Rs 930.206 million, will have capacity to hold 1,044 prisoners, the Dawn reported.

The breakup of the new jail's structure, staff strength and the equipment installed there shows that as many as 841 officials ranking from superintendent orderly to jail superintendent have been recruited by the prisons department on temporary basis with a cost of Rs 488.826 million, it said.

The Punjab government had hired services of National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation ( NRTC) Haripur to install security gadgets, IT-related equipment and CCTV surveillance system at the jail.

So far, a control room, switch room, fire alarm system, CCTV cameras, UPS, blocker barrier, under vehicle surveillance system, electro-mechanical barriers and other modern features have been installed in the jail.

Initially prisoners serving terms in ordinary cases would be transferred to the jail on trial basis, to be followed by those relating to terrorism and sectarian cases.

It was speedily completed and made ready to host inmates following the announcement of National Action Plan by the PML-N government, and establishment of military courts, speedy trails and executions of terrorists.

In April 2013, Taliban stormed Bannu district jail in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and released over 400 inmates, mostly dreaded militants.

Those released included Adnan Rashid facing death sentence for attack on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

In December 2013, militants attacked Dera Ismail Khan jail in the same province and released more than 175 prisoners.