THE failure of the law enforcement agencies to arrest almost none of more than 700 prisoners who escaped jails around the fall of the Awami League government, toppled on August 5, 2024 in a mass uprising, is gravely concerning. The prisons directorate at a press conference in Dhaka on March 10 said that the law enforcers could arrest only one of more than 700 prisoners in more than three months, noting that all of them are still in hiding. The prisons directorate at a press conference on its activities in the previous three months on December 4, 2024 dished out the same figures, saying that more than 2,200 people escaped from five jails, and 1,500 of them had either surrendered or had been arrested by the law enforcement agencies until that time and more than 700 of them had been in hiding. In the Narsingdi jailbreak on July 19, 826 prisoners and others detained escaped; 596 prisoners escaped the Satkhira jail and 518 prisoners escaped the Sherpur jail on August 5; 201 prisoners escaped the Kashimpur jail on August 6 and about a hundred escaped the Kushita jail on August 7.
What is further worrying 鈥� and it so was in December 2024 when the prisons directorate spoke at the previous press conference 鈥� is that some of the people who escaped are death-row convicts and many, especially in the Narsingdi jailbreak, have escaped with looted firearms. The jailbreaks in Kashimpur, Satkhira, Kushtia and Sherpur are reported to have happened after demonstrations by some prisoners and in some cases attacks by the cohorts and relatives of the prisoners from outside the jails. The army, which promised to attend to the issues of law and order, and security, appears to have left the prisons inadequately attended. The prisons authorities also appear to have taken no proper precaution to protect the prisons, especially at a time when law enforcement was clearly declining or declined. This made the situation alarming as the jailbreaks took place at a time when law and order was not in shape amidst the political turmoil that surrounded August 5, when law enforcement was very weak. And, the easiness, if not a grievous threat, still persists as the law and order has not noticeably improved so as to dispel people鈥檚 fear. The government could not get a grip on the situation immediately in the changed political context that happened then.
But it has already been more than seven months. The authorities not having been able to arrest the jailbreakers only adds to risks in law and order and threatens people鈥檚 security. The authorities should, therefore, step up efforts on large-scale re-arrests.
