19 inmates escape from prison in Pakistan

In a major security breach in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 19 inmates, including six on death row, escaped from the Rawalakot prison in Pakistan while one inmate, who was injured during the escape, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital, said police and official sources, Report informs referring to the Dawn.

The incident occurred in Rawalakot, the district and divisional headquarters of Poonch, between 2pm and 2:30pm.

The thirty-year-old prison located adjacent to the district courts in the heart of the town has been in a dilapidated state for quite some time, whereas work on a new prison site on the outskirts of town has yet to be properly initiated.

In light of the jailbreak, eight prison officials, including the deputy superintendent, were detained for investigation while the AJK government also formed an inquiry committee to investigate the incident within a week.

In a late-night press release, Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob said AJK PM Chaudhry Anwarul Haq had suspended prison officials, apart from removing special home secretary Badar Munir, who happens to be the ex-officio inspector general of prisons. He was attached with the services department as OSD. The information secretary said the government also requested the high court chief justice to constitute a judicial commission to probe the matter.

Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan and SP Riaz Mughal shared preliminary information from the jail administration with journalists.

They said a prisoner had asked a sentry to move his “lassi” (a yoghurt-based drink) outside his barrack. When the sentry obliged, the prisoner overpowered him, snatched his keys, and opened other barracks from where at least 19 prisoners made their way to the main gate. At that point, a pistol was thrown inside through the roof, which was used to break the lock from the inside. One prisoner was injured during the gunfire, but the others managed to escape, they said.

Among the escaped prisoners were six death row inmates. The escape was allegedly led by Ghazi Shahzad from AJK’s Sudhnoti district, who had been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Depart­ment along with three colleagues from the town of Hajira last year. Booked under Section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 302 of the Azad Penal Code (APC), he had not been convicted as of yet.