Islamabad: The Accountability Court of Islamabad Wednesday granted the request made by the jail administration regarding security concerns in Adiala Jail and adjourned the hearing of the 190-million-pound reference till May 17 without proceeding.

According to the details, today the Adiala Jail authorities requested the court to adjourn the hearing due to security concerns.

In the letter written by the Superintendent of Adiala Jail to the Accountability Court, it was stated that Adiala Jail is the most sensitive jail in the province.

The letter stated that criminals involved in serious crimes including terrorism are imprisoned in Adiala Jail, high profile prisoners with political background are also in the Jail.

The letter added that the Home Department of the Punjab Government has received a report of a plan to attack prisons by banned organizations. According to the report, there are security threats to Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi and Attock Jail. Mock drills have also been conducted with the help of law enforcement agencies for the security of Adiala Jail.

According to the letter, the security clearance of the residents of the residential areas adjacent to the jail is also being done, therefore, the hearing on the 190 million pounds reference should be postponed till next week in the context of security arrangements.

It is pertinent to note that mock drills were conducted yesterday to ensure the security of Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

Police, Elite Force, Rescue 1122, Bomb Disposal Squad and law enforcement agencies participated in the mock exercise, said Rawalpindi Police spokesperson.

According to the spokesman, mock exercises were conducted to simulate joint operational actions in an operation or emergency situation.

Earlier, there were reports that a ban was imposed on meeting prisoners in Adiala Jail for three days. The ban on meetings with prisoners will be applied till 12 midnight on May 15 and this decision was taken in view of security concerns around the prison.

It is pertinent to note that a few days ago, the US State Department emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety of all prisoners in Pakistan, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

During a news briefing in Washington on May 7, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “Obviously, we want to see the protection and security of every prisoner in the world, including Pakistan. Every detained person, every prisoner is entitled to basic human rights and protection under the law”.

Earlier, the Spokesperson of Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, while responding to the US State Department's concern regarding the safety of all prisoners in Pakistan, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan, said that the issue of prisoners is an internal problem of Pakistan. No one’s directions are needed.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, during the weekly briefing, explained the US response to the security of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, imprisoned in Adiala Jail.

She stated that Pakistan has an independent and transparent judiciary system. It is free to make decisions according to law and delivery of justice is the main pillar of Pakistan's judiciary.

Notably on March 7, Rawalpindi Police and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested three suspected terrorists and saved Adiala Jail from a major disaster.

City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Khalid Hamdani had said that in a joint operation, Adiala Jail has been saved from major destruction. three terrorists were arrested along with heavy weapons and ammunition, who belong to Afghanistan.

CPO Rawalpindi further said that a map of Adiala jail, hand grenades and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered from the terrorists.

Later on March 12, Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi was banned for two weeks from meeting all prisoners including the founder of PTI Imran Khan due to fear of being targeted by terrorists.

It was also reported that in the light of intelligence reports, the Punjab Home Department has decided to ban meetings with all the prisoners, including the PTI founder, in Adiala Jail.

The media reports also suggested that a search operation will also be conducted in the jail by the Home Department of Punjab.

According to the post, the meeting ban will apply to all the prisoners, including PTI founder Imran Khan.

Rawalpindi: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Wednesday confirmed the bails of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shibli Faraz, Raja Basharat, Zartaj Gul and Zain Qureshi in the cases registered on May 9.

The cases of May 9 were heard by Judge Malik Ijaz Asif of the ATC in which more than 500 named accused appeared in the court. The attendance of all the accused persons was marked in the court.

The court confirmed the bail of 20 to 25 accused including Shibli Faraz, Raja Basharat, Zartaj Gul and Zain Qureshi.

The court accepted the plea of exemption from the presence of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur and ordered him to appear at the next hearing.

The hearing of May 9 cases has been adjourned till May 29 which will be held in Adiala Jail.

Dhaka: Bangladesh has announced the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, the team will be led by Najam-ul-Hussain Shanto.

Bangladesh has announced the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 starting from June 1.

Najam-ul-Hussain has been appointed as the captain. The squad also includes veteran all-rounder Shakeeb-ul-Hasan, who has returned to T20 cricket after a gap of almost a year.

Bangladesh has been placed in Group D alongside South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Nepal for next month's event, with Bangladesh's first match against Sri Lanka in Dallas on June 7.

There are no big surprises in Bangladesh's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh Squad

Najam-ul-Hussain Shanto (c), Taskeen Ahmed, Laton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzeed Hassan Tamim, Shakeeb-ul-Hassan, Toheed Hardoy, Mahmudullah Riaz, Jakar Ali Anek, Tanveer Islam, Shak Mehidi Hasan, Rashad Hussain, Mustafiz-ur-Rehman, Shoor-al-Islam, Tanzeem and Hassan Saqib.

Traveling Reserves: Afif Hussain and Hassan Mahmood.

Teams that announced squad for T20 World Cup

Australia

Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pete Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner and Adam Zampa.

New Zealand

Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dion Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Nesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ash Sodhi and Tim Southee.

Traveling Reserves: Ben Sears

India

Ravit Sharma (c), Yashwi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yazvinder Chahal, Arshad Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj.

Among the four reserve players are Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khalil Ahmed and Aweesh Khan

Afghanistan

Rahmanullah Garbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Umarzai, Najeebullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbuddin Naib, Karim Jannat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharuti, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Noor Ahmed, Naveen-ur-Rahman Haq, Fazl-ul-Haq Farooqui and Farid Ahmad Malik.

England

Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley and Mark Wood.

South Africa

Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Björn Fortuyn, Reza Hendricks, Marco Johnson, Henrik Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Enrich Noortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton and Tabriz Shamsi Stubbs.

Nepal

Rohit Padil (c), Asif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kaushal Bhartil, Kushal Malla, Deepinder Singh Airey, Lalit Raj Banshi, Kiran KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sandeep Jura, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakkal and Kamal Singh Airey.

Oman

Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Parjapati, Pratik Athawle, Ayan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmed.

Traveling Reserves: Jitendra Singh, Samey Shrivastava, Sufyan Mehmood and Jay Odedra.

Canada

Saad Bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Dalvin Helliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thakur, Jeremy Gordon, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tuthgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Ravinderpal Singh, Ryan Khan Pathan and Ryan Khan.

Traveling Reserves: Tajinder Singh, Aditya Vardharajan, Amar Khalid, Jitendra Mataru and Parveen Kumar.

West Indies

Rowman Powell (c), Al-Zari Joseph, Johnson-Charles, Ruston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Aqeel Hussain, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gadakesh Moti, Nicholas Pouran, Andre Russell, Sheriff Rutherford and Romario Shepherd.

United States

Monanik Patel (c), Aaron Jones, Andrew Goss, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jesse Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisar Patel, Nitish Kumar, Nishtish Kenjige, Saurabh Netheral Walker, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor and Shayan Jahangir.

Sri Lanka

Vinindu Hasaringa (c), Charith Asalanka, Kosal Mendis, Patham Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Sidira Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Dasan Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Mahesh Thiekshana, Donath Nushman Velalaji, Donath Navathra, Mathisha Pathirana, and Dilshan Madushanka.

Traveling Reserves: Asitha Fernando, Vijayakanth Vyaskanth, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Janith Liyanage.

Ireland

Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balberney, Curtis Kaempfer, Gareth Delaney, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White and Craig Young.

T20 World Cup 2024 Groups

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, USA

Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman

Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea

Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal