Prisoners to get cell phone access
Special Correspondent
Prisoners would soon get the opportunity to communicate with their families via cell phones, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said. Though a decision in this regard was taken three years ago, the minister made the announcement yesterday while inaugurating Prison Week 2017 at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur. Kamal said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was likely to inaugurate the facility soon.
Earlier, additional inspector general (Prisons) Col Md Fazlul Kabir said that before being taken to prison, the prisoners would submit two phone numbers of their family members. Prisoners will be able to call their families on these two numbers during their jail terms. The conversations will be recorded and the identity of the persons that the prisoners talk to will be verified, he added. Family members of the inmates would not be able to call them from outside. But they would be able to send text messages to designated numbers in the department of prisons, Kabir added.
Sources in the department of prisons said the government was going to install mobile phone facilities in all jails, including high-security prisons, for prisoners to communicate with their family members. This was done with a view to stopping the use of illegal cell phones by notorious criminals, the sources added.
The sources said canteens in different jails were selling different devices like MP3, USB ports and memory cards for the prisoners.
