Mohsin Naqvi visits completed Islamabad Model Jail, hints at Imran Khan’s transfer

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the Islamabad Model Jail on Tuesday with Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry. He said the project, pending for 17 years, has been completed.

According to Mohsin Naqvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will inaugurate the jail in the next few days. Prisoners will then start being moved. He inspected the jail’s hospital, kitchen, mess, barracks and waiting area. He also tasted the food prepared for prisoners.

He said the jail has been built to World standards and its administrative staff is ready to start work. In the first phase, 1,500 prisoners will be moved. The second phase will have room for three to four thousand prisoners.

Asked about the transfer of Imran Khan, the interior minister said every prisoner from Islamabad will be moved here. Imran Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and is serving a sentence in the £190 million case at Adiala Jail. Terrorism cases related to the events of 9 May are also being heard against him.

Naqvi said work on the project began in 2009 and construction started in 2016. When he first visited in 2024, only 40 to 50 per cent of the work was complete. He praised Talal Chaudhry and the CDA team for completing the project.

The Express Tribune, citing jail sources, reported that 1,500 prisoners, including Imran Khan, are expected to be moved in the first phase. According to these sources, Imran Khan may be moved between 20 and 30 November. A special ward is ready for him, and the installation of the CCTV system is in its final stages. The first phase includes three barracks, a small 35-bed hospital, a mosque and a kitchen.