November 4, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1424

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SIALKOT, Nov 3: Attempt to commit suicide by a condemned prisoner and escape of another from custody on Monday exposed police claim of having taken strict security measure following Sialkot jail incident in July.

Condemned prisoner Pervaiz Malhi attempted suicide by inflicting several cuts on his abdomen with a blade while he was being shifted to Rawalpindi jail from Sialkot. He was admitted to the DHQ Hospital in critical condition.

He was sentenced to death on three counts.

Sources said five condemned prisoners, Pervaiz, Ghulam Murtaza, Qasim Ali, Arshad Rajput and Idrees Kumhar, were being shifted on the directives of the Punjab government. The police wagon carrying them was stopped when his fellow prisoner raised an alarm. Policemen escorting the prisoners overpowered Pervaiz and snatched the blade from him. The wagon was brought back to jail where the other prisoners were dropped and the injured was rushed to the hospital.

When contacted, Sialkot prison assistant superintendent Aslam Niazi said they were being taken to Rawalpindi as their rivals were also lodged here. The step was taken to avoid any untoward incident in the prison, he added.

No one could give the answer of the question that from where he got the blade, he added.

He said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

ESCAPE: In the other incident, accused Qamar Abbas escaped from Daska Saddar police custody from the court premises.

Official sources said police brought Qamar in connection with his trial. He escaped from their custody before his production before the court with handcuffs.

Qamar was involved in a number of robbery and theft cases.

Four civil judges and five prisoners were killed in a shoot out in Sialkot district jail on July 25. On October 20, four under-trial prisoners escaped from Sialkot judicial lockup, adjacent to the district jail, by breaking the wall of a toilet. The Sialkot DPO claimed to have arrested two of them.