Action taken against 12 for Kashimpur Central Jail prison break

Authorities at the Department of Prisons have taken immediate action against 12 people in connection with the disappearance of a prisoner from Kashimpur Central Jail.

Inspector General of Prisons (IG Prisons) Brigadier General (Brig Gen) AKM Mostafa Kamal Pasha confirmed the matter on Friday. 

Six people, including the chief jailor, were suspended while departmental cases were filed against six others.

The authorities also filed a complaint with Konabari police station on Friday.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Konabari police station Emdad Hossain said, "Baharul Islam, jailor of the detention facility, has filed a case in the afternoon. Police members are searching for the fugitive Abu Bakkar."

Brig Gen Pasha said, "Besides filing departmental cases against six people involved, I have talked to the superintendent of police to find the escaped prisoner."

"Police have raided several places, including the prisoner's native village, to find the individual. They will hopefully find the prisoner soon."

The Department of Prisons said that it would take necessary action against the rest after receiving the investigation report.

Meanwhile, a three-member committee has been formed to probe the matter. Additional Inspector General of Prisons Colonel Md Abrar Hossain is leading the probe committee. 

The committee, that will start working on Saturday, has been given three working days to submit its report. 

Additionally, the police superintendents of Gazipur and Satkhira district – the native district of the fugitive – have also been informed about the matter. 

Earlier, on Thursday evening, a prisoner named Abu Bakkar Siddiq fled from Kashimpur Central Jail of Gazipur after he was sent to his cell in the afternoon. 

The police searched the vicinity of the detention centre till 12:30pm on Friday and could not find the prisoner there. 

However, the search for the fugitive prisoner was underway, said the jail authorities.

The Department of Prisons also said that it would take necessary action against the rest after receiving the investigation report.

According to Kashimpur jail sources, Abu Bakkar's native village is in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira.  

The prisoner fled the detention facility using a ladder which is used to clean the walls of the facility. He was initially locked up in Rajshahi central jail in 2011 as a death row convict. 

Later on July 27, 2012, his sentence was revised and commuted to life imprisonment.

Jahanara Begum, jail super at Kashimpur central jail, said "Abu Bakkar was found missing during a count of detainees during a lockup on Thursday evening and he has been missing since then."

An official of the jail, who did not want to be named, said that Abu Bakkar had tried to escape from the jail earlier as well. 

He tried to escape the detention facility by hiding inside a safety tank in the cell area of ​​the prison on May 13, 2015.

After a long search, he was rescued the next day from inside a safety tank in the 40th cell area of ​​the jail. After this incident, he was kept chained up for some time. 

As a result, Abu Bakkar became somewhat mentally deranged and later the prison officials took off his chains and let him roam free like every other prisoner inside the facility. 

Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Mohammad Touhidul Islam said, "Prisoner Abu Bakkar Siddique has gone missing from Kashimpur Central Jail-2 and we are trying to find out where he is at this moment. Legal action is being taken in this regard."