The authorities have taken necessary measures to preserve the archaeological evidence, including a wall thought to be part of a fort, but study and excavation of the historic site remain halted, sources said.
A government technical committee formed in 2016 appointed an archaeologist to excavate the site but no report of the work has been published so far.
Historians and archaeologists think more archaeological evidence from the Mughal, Sultanate and Sen eras or before these can be found at the old central jail.
Chawkbazar itself is archaeologically significant among other places in Old Dhaka, researchers say.
For example, an ancient Basudev statue was recovered during an excavation on the Churihatta Mosque premises in the area in 1906.