PESHAWAR, Aug 12: The two militants who escaped in an attack on a police van are affiliated with a group operating in the tribal Darra Adamkhel area and were considered 'high profile' by the law enforcing agencies.

Official sources told Dawn that in the past the two militants, Nadeem Abbas and Zakeem Shah, were involved in several incidents of unrest inside the Peshawar Central Prison and were wielding a lot of influence among the prisoners as well as some officials who had served at the prison.

The entire story of taking the two suspected militants to the Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD), situated near the main University Road, created several suspicions about the prison administration as well as the doctor, as normally the officials had been reluctant in referring prisoners to hospitals outside the facility for treatment. But in the present case, such high profile militants were sent to hospital in a casual manner.

Sources say that among the two Nadeem Abbas is more influential as he was a close aide to Tariq Afridi, the commander of militants in Darra Adamkhel. He continued to operate from inside the prison and in past several incidents were reported about how he used his influence on the prison administration on different occasions. Although, the law enforcement agencies believe that Nadeem Abbas, hailing from Attock district of Punjab, is involved in several incidents of terrorism, but presently he has been facing trial before an anti-terrorism court here on account of bombing Badhber police station around two years ago.

An official said that the case against him was weak due to lack of witnesses and other evidences and it was expected that he would be set free by the court.

Similarly, the other escaped prisoner, Zakeem, was charged with the murder of an influential businessman and was facing a trial before the court of an additional district and sessions judge.

An inmate of the prison told Dawn that both of them were often seen together inside the prison and had a lot of influence over other militants imprisoned there.

It was learnt that in past Zakeem and his associates had also sent a video footage to an official of the prison, who they believed was not toeing their line. That video footage showed the beheading of a government official by the militants. They had conveyed message to the official that he might face the same fate if he did not follow their directions.

In one of the instances, he had used his influence over a former prison superintendent and asked him not to release a would-be suicide bomber, Mir Janan, even after he had completed his prison term. The official acted in accordance with his directions and did not release the bomber due to which an intelligence agency had lodged complaint with the government about the said official.Later, the government suspended that official and the acting superintendent freed Mir Janan in Jan last. The would-be bomber was allegedly whisked away by the security agencies when he was released. Over that issue, a clash took place between the militants and the prison officials following which around 25 of them went on hunger strike. Nadeem and some of his companions including Zakeem were put in solitary confinement after that incident.

Interestingly, Zakeem had also put forward a complaint to the Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan during one of his visits to the prison a few months ago. He had reportedly told the chief justice that he was having dental problems but he was not being provided proper treatment.