Ilam, January 6 :

Prisoners in Ilam are forced to stay in police custody, as the district prison destroyed in a Maoist attack last year is yet to be reconstructed.

As per legal provisions, the prisoners should not be kept in police custody for more than 25 days.

There are 12 prisoners, including three women, in the custody now. “We have been forced to stay in narrow rooms for 10 months,” a prisoner Mema Tshring Lama said. “We are trying our best to provide them facilities,” DSP Buddhiraj Gurung said, adding, “Some prisoners have already been shifted to Jhapa and Morang jails.” The Ilam prison was destroyed in the Maoist attack on March 5. Out of 103 prisoners, 62 returned to the jail after the attack.

He said they have sent a proposal and an estimated budget of Rs 26 million to the Home Ministry and the National Planning Commission for the reconstruction of the prison.