LAHORE: A fresh scanning and checking in residential localities in and around eight central jails of Punjab and its internal and external security, which contain prisoners involved in terrorism and sectarianism cases, has recently been done by police and jail officials on the orders of the Punjab government.

The exercise has been done after the Karachi central jail break plot in October 2014 in which Rangers personnel foiled an attempt of some terrorists who dug an underground 43 meter tunnel from Ghousia Colony to very-near to jail premises apparently to approach some high value targets languishing in specific barracks.

A senior jail official told Dawn that the fresh scanning of eight central jails of Punjab -- Kot Lakhpat jail (Lahore), Faisalabad jail, Mianwali jail, Adiala jail (Rawalpindi), Sahiwal jail, Multan jail and Bahawalpur jail -- had recently been made with internal and external security SOPs.

He said around 200 prisoners belonging to different militant organizations had been languishing in central jails.

He said usually jail superintendents conducted periodical search and sweep exercises in official residences and buildings of all jails and assisted local police in private residential localities.

The official said the deployment and patrolling in and around central jails had been revised and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) had been deployed at four central jails for improved security.

The official said the two jailbreak incidents had happened in Punjab -- one by digging a tunnel from inside, but the Karachi jailbreak plot was unique in a sense that the tunnel was dug from outside the jail.

Up to 12 prisoners made their good escape from the Gujrat district jail after digging a tunnel from a barrack about 25 years back, he added.

A group of nine prisoners managed to escape from the Mandi Bahauddin district jail in 2002 by smuggling weapons inside and holding the staff hostage at gunpoint.

The official said that 12-feet high new security walls in and around main walls of 32 provincial jails had been constructed (built some 20 feet away from main walls) with installation of observation posts and barbed wires.

A Lahore police officer said the local police had been regularly updating the record of owners and tenants of residential properties situated in and around two city jails.

He said police paid visits to houses for proper checking and monitored real estate offices for the record of tenants.

The officer said there were no fresh threat alerts of jailbreak for Kot Lakhpat and Camp jails in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2014