Dhaka: Prison authorities in emergency ruled Bangladesh have initiated punitive measures against five high profile detained politicians for breaching jail codes, officials said today.

Jail officials said four former ministers and wife of one of them were stripped off their "division status" for three months for using mobile phones which they smuggled inside the jail or at their hospital cells.

"We were forced to be tough as they breached the codes defying our repeated requests . . . This (use of cell phones) is a serious offence under the jail code," Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Major Shamsuddin Haidar Siddiqui told reporters. He, however, added that jail guards who were on duty during the use of mobile phones by the politicians also faced punishments like suspension from service.

The "division status" of former minister in ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP government, Nazmul Huda, retired Air Vice Marshal Altaf Hossain Choudhury, Zia's political secretary Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, Huda's wife Sigma Huda and former minister in the Cabinet of ex-premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government, Mohiuddin Khan Alaggir was withdrawn, the official said.

Source : PTI