RAWALPINDI, Aug 12: Roohullah, the high profile murder accused who escaped from a Rawalpindi hospital bed two weeks ago, is in Afghanistan in the protection of Mangal Bagh group of Taliban, Dawn has leaned.

Sources close to the investigation said two persons had been arrested for facilitating his escape while he was being tried for the murder of a retired judge of Peshawar High Court and former attorney general, Sardar Khan.

Roohullah planned his elaborate escape plan with a jail mate and arms dealer of Pakhtun Khwa province, Raja Arsalan, who is in the Adiala Jail on the charge of murdering his wife and daughter.

Sources said Roohullah offered Arsalan that he could secure him bail using his alleged links in the judiciary in return for help in his escape.

Accordingly, Arsalan reportedly asked his brother Raja Saqib to network Roohullah's escape.

Eventually Roohullah ended up in the Rawalpindi District Headquarters Hospital, supposedly with help from jail and hospital staff - and escaped late July 29 night in a second attempt.

Almost within an hour of his escape, Roohullah was reported caught by the CCTV cameras entering the Islamabad airport.

But the Roohullah who boarded a flight for Dubai soon after - and was caught there the same day with the help of Interpol on the request of FIA - turned out to be a namesake, not the wanted man.

They had different parentage. That left the police and FIA red faced.

A source close to the investigation told Dawn that the Islamabad police had impounded the car in which Roohullah, son of Mohammad Ilyas, escaped from the Rawalpindi hospital, with his wife. Raja Saqib drove them straight to Swabi and returned to his residence in Islamabad after dropping them there.

Police raided the residence in F-8/4, arrested him and impounded the car.

Police believe Raja Saqib had hatched the escape plan with Roohullah in jail.

Earlier the Islamabad police had detained Roohullah's two bother-in-laws, Daud Khan and Jawad Khan, who used to bring meals to him in the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital.

After grilling them for more than six days, they were handed to the Rawalpindi police which have registered a separate case against three cops of Islamabad police in connection with the escape of Roohullah.