PM opens new Dhaka central jail

Staff Correspondent: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj on Sunday morning.

The prison authorities are shifting all the male inmates from the existing Dhaka Central Jail to the new one while the women prisoners will be shifted to Kashimpur jail in Gazipur.

The new central jail was built on 194.41 acres of land costing Tk 4.06 billion at Dakshin Rajendrapur, it is about 12 km from the currently overcrowded Dhaka Central Jail on Old Dhaka’s Nazimuddin Road.

The historic old prison was set up way back in 1788 and houses inmates three times its capacity of 2,826.

The new prison, which can keep 4, 590, will be a big relief.

The entrance is 200 yards from the main road. A reserve guard house is on its left and the place for visiting the inmates on the right of it. The Jailer’s office is also near the gate.

On the right of the main compound are three buildings named after three major rivers - Padma, Jamuna and Meghna. They will house detainees along with other buildings - Karnaphuli, Karatua and Monihar. Convicts will be put into Madhumati and Rupsha.   

An 18-feet tall boundary wall surrounds the compound.

The buildings have their own boundaries to keep the prison population separated.  

Wires on top of the main wall rise another two feet with motion sensors to set off security alarm and deliver electric shock in case of a jail-break attempt.

Risingbd/ April 10, 2016/Eva/Mukul