The Punjab government has told the Inspectorate of Prisons to monitor sectarian prisoners in provincial jails, government officials told Daily Times on Wednesday. A senior Home Department official said the orders had been given in wake of the current situation in the province.The government officials said two maximum-security prisons were almost complete in Multan and Faisalabad and that many of the sectarian prisoners would be shifted there by September 2006. They said that even now sectarian prisoners were being monitored and Closed Circuit TVs had been installed near their barracks. Officials said there were 300 sectarian prisoners accused of murder and terrorism in provincial jails. They said many of them belonged to defunct religious outfits such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba.
Maximum-security prisons are not only meant for sectarian prisoners, but also for high profile criminals convicted for heinous crimes and violence. The Punjab government has allocated Rs 225 million for the construction of such prisons.