Jails holding 1.7 times more inmates than capacity: Home Minister

The number of prisoners in the country's prisons is about 1.7 times more than the capacity, said Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed.

He gave this information in response to a question raised at the table by Comilla-4 MP Abul Hasnat in the National Parliament on Wednesday (June 17).

The minister said that as of June 7, the approved capacity of the country's 75 prisons is 45,136. In contrast, the current number of prisoners is 76,113. Of these, 74,036 are males and 2,077 are females.

He said that due to the excess prisoners, a housing crisis has arisen in some prisons. To address this problem, a special central prison has already been opened in Keraniganj, Sylhet Central Prison-2, Feni District Prison-2 and Khulna District Prison-2 have already been opened.

Besides, the Home Minister said that new district jails will be launched soon in Kishoreganj, Madaripur and Pirojpur. At the same time, the work of rebuilding prisons in Mymensingh, Cumilla, Jamalpur and the construction of a new prison in Narsingdi is underway. Once these projects are completed, the total capacity will increase to about 48,091 people.

He also informed the parliament that several more prison reconstruction projects have been taken up in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Noakhali, Rangamati and Khagrachari.

Regarding anti-drug activities, the minister said that regular campaigns are being conducted nationwide under the government's zero tolerance policy. According to the work plan, preparations are underway to conduct special campaigns in the first 60 days of the 2026-2027 fiscal year.

He said that 30,744 anti-drug campaigns have been conducted across the country from February 17 to May 31. 9,251 cases have been filed and 9,685 drug smugglers have been arrested.

The minister said that the list is being updated at the upazila and district levels to prevent the spread of drugs and law enforcement agencies are regularly conducting coordinated operations. Initiatives have also been taken to further strengthen the Department of Narcotics Control.

The home minister also said that the killing of Bangladeshi citizens by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at the border is very sad and a violation of human rights. The issue is being raised regularly in the BGB-BSF joint meeting.

He said that out of the 2,369 people pushed by the BSF since August 5, 2024, 2175 have been handed over to the police station, 183 have been pushed back and 11 have been handed over to the BSF.

He also said that various security initiatives have been taken, including the construction of barbed wire fences, to prevent infiltration, drug and arms smuggling at the border.

The Home Minister also told Parliament that the cyber unit and intelligence surveillance have been strengthened to control juvenile gangs in the Dhaka Metropolitan Area.