KARACHI: An undertrial prisoner, who was being tried for possession of explosives, escaped from police custody on Monday when he was produced for his hearing at Karachi's Anti-Terrorism Court-IX.

Tanveer alias Jumbo was under the custody of the special investigation unit after he was arrested in Karachi's Ibrahim Hyderi in 2014 and a case (FIR 241/14) was registered under Sections 4/5 of the Explosives Subtances Act, 1908.

The act mentions punishment for 'attempting to cause an explosion or possessing explosives with the intention of endangering life or property or keeping them under suspicious circumstances'.

Police had claimed that hand grenades and other explosive devices were recovered from Tanveer's possession at the time of arrest.

A hearing for evidence in this case was fixed at ATC-IX today and the prisoner was brought to court from Central Jail. He was being escorted by a policeman when he apparently managed to unlock his handcuffs and escaped.

Karachi's ATCs are housed at Sindh Secretariat where there are no boundary walls on the premises.

Initial reports suggest that Tanveer may have escaped easily and did not meet resistance at the gate, where a large number of secretariat employees enter and exit from, as he was not handcuffed.

In the past, the higher judiciary had suggested shifting ATC courts to more reasonable premises but the provincial government is yet to comply.

Also read: Undertrial prisoner escapes from ATC lock-up

Previously, an undertrial prisoner facing trial in a kidnapping for ransom case managed to escape from the heavily guarded anti-terrorism courts complex in 2013, after he was brought back to a makeshift lock-up in the complex after his hearing. The prisoner had managed to unlock his handcuffs and escape by scaling a wall.