Chittagong jail is holding nearly four times its official capacity, with rising arrests and fewer releases on bail worsening overcrowding at the British-era prison.
Designed to accommodate 1,850 inmates, the jail now houses more than 7,000 prisoners on average each day, including accused persons from the metropolitan area, although it was originally built to serve the district.
To ease the pressure, the office of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons for Chittagong Division has proposed establishing alternative prisons or sub-jails.
Chittagong divisional DIG of Prisons Md Sagir Mia told TIMES on Sunday evening that the prison had a combined capacity of 1,850 male and female inmates but was struggling to accommodate more than 7,000 prisoners daily through various arrangements.
The inmate population reached 7,400 on Saturday, exactly four times the prison’s capacity.
Sagir said 22 remote areas across the country had upazila courts, and a proposal had been submitted to the Department of Prisons to establish detention facilities near those courts.
The proposed upazila jails or sub-jails would accommodate prisoners locally instead of transferring them to district and central prisons, reducing pressure on existing facilities.
He cited courts in Hatiya and Sandwip in Noakhali, Mathbaria, Mirzaganj and Kalapara in Patuakhali, Patharghata in Barguna, Ajmiriganj in Habiganj and Dharmapasha in Sunamganj among the locations concerned.
Several prison officials said separate facilities for female prisoners and inmates held in narcotics cases could help ease overcrowding.
They attributed the growing inmate population to increasing arrests in political cases and detentions during regular police operations.
The officials said fewer prisoners were also being released on bail, adding to the pressu
