Bangladesh News

Jail authorities have stepped up security in all the 67 prisons, where the Islamist militants are being kept, following the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto on Thursday.

The move was made after the Pakistani government suspected that radical Islamist outfit al Qaeda was behind the killing.

Instructions have been given to the authorities concerned to keep a close eye on the visitors who come to meet the militants in jail.

Inspector General (prison) Brig Gen Zakir Hasan told The Daily Star yesterday that security had been strengthened in the prisons and they are coordinating with Rab.

Deputy Inspector General (prison) Maj Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said they have been keeping a close watch on the militants as well as the visitors.

Guards have already been assigned to hear the conversation between the militants and visitors. Now no militant is allowed to talk with a visitor in the absence of guards.

Sources said although the high-profile militants can be identified easily, the jail authorities might face difficulty in monitoring the activities of other militants as no separate register for them is maintained. A jailer wishing anonymity said they would try to identify them by studying the cases.

Meanwhile, 26 militants were moved to separate cells in the Chittagong Central Jail yesterday. Previously, some of them were kept in the same cell.