QUETTA: Fearing a possible jail break, the provincial government of Balochistan has shifted 24 high-profile prisoners from District Jail Quetta.

The decision to shift the high profile prisoners was made at a meeting held at the Home and Tribal Affairs Department of Balochistan. Senior officers from Home and Prison departments participated in the meeting, which discussed possible attacks on prisons in the province.

Muhammad Asif Butt, the Superintendent of District Jail Quetta, told reporters that 24 high-profile prisoners have been shifted.

He said Frontier Corps, Balochistan Constabulary, Police and Rapid Response Force personnel were deployed around the jail to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident during the shifting.

"All prisoners have been sentenced to death," he said.

There are a total of 97 prisoners who have been awarded the death sentence. A total of 14 prisoners have filed their mercy petitions before President Mamnoon Hussain.

"Within a few days' time, the fate of these prisoners would be decided," an officer of the Home Department told Dawn.

The number of inmates in all 11 jails in Balochistan is more than 3000. According to sources in the prison department, four jails — including District Jail Quetta, Khuzdar, Gaddani and Mach — have been declared sensitive.

Security around jails has been beefed up in the aftermath of the Peshawar school carnage and the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty by the federal government.

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