ITAHARI: The denial of eastern regional jail in Biratnagar to take in additional prisoners citing space crunch has left 39 inmates languishing in a number of police offices in Sunsari district.

Sunsari prison is full of inmates while the one under construction in Jhumka is occupied by the Koshi flood victims. The detainees and prisoners said they were deprived of basic facilities and have demanded that they be relocated to the prison.

"The small rooms in the police offices have been crammed by inmates," Sunsari SP Rajendra Man Shrestha said.

There are five detainees in Sunsari District Police Office, one prisoner and 13 detainees in Dharan Area Police Office, 10 detainees in Itahari Area Police Office, seven detainees in Duhabi Area Police Office and a prisoner and two detainees in Mahendranagar Area Police Office in Sunsari, Shreshta said.

The law does not allow the accommodation of prisoners in police offices. "As the jail administration has failed to fulfill its responsibility, we are forced to keep them in the offices," Shrestha said.

The Biratnagar jail administration is not providing any expense except for food for the inmates, he said. "We discussed the matter with Morang CDO and officials at Biratangar jail. They said they could not keep the prisoners of Sunsari district in Biratnagar jail as it lacks space," Shrestha regretted.

"We informed the matter to the Home Ministry, but the problem has not been addressed yet," he said.

"Police posts and offices lack space even for persons held in custody due to the inmates," Sunsari DSP Rajendra Dhakal said.