RAWALPINDI, Sept 29: The Adiala Central Jail currently houses 67 notorious terrorists of which 14 are convicted of high profile attacks while the remaining are under trial in major terrorist cases, Dawn has learnt.
Of these 14, seven have been awarded the death sentence for various terrorist activities such as the attack on former president Pervez Musharraf, suicide attack on Pakistan Ordnance Factories, attack on former governor Punjab Salman Taseer and others.
Due to the presence of high profile prisoners and continuous threats of attack by the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), army authorities and security agencies are reviewing the security of the jail on a daily basis.
A police official, while citing intelligence agencies, said Adnan Rashid, a Taliban commander who had been freed from the Bannu Jail by militants in 2012, had threatened an assault on Adiala jail similar to the one on Dera Ismail Khan Prison in July 2013. During the assault, a large number of TTP militants had been freed.
This threat has forced the army, district police and prison authorities to hold emergency sessions to review security of the heavily-guarded Adiala jail which houses 67 notorious prisoners in addition to approximately 5,000 others.
A list of the major 14 convicted terrorists, their crimes and their punishments is provided in the table.
The remaining 53 high profile prisoners languishing in Adiala Central Jail are under trial for terrorist activities such as the Mumbai attacks in 2008, assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, attack on Nato oil tankers in March 2010, Inspector Raja Saqlain murder case and recovery of explosives in Rawalpindi and Islamabad between 2008 and 2013.
Similarly, seven prisoners are under trial for the Bhara Kahu suicide attack, one for the murder of FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar and two suspects in the Pir Chumbal blast in Choa Saidan Shah in November 2011.
Among these 53 under-trial prisoners, 34 are being tried inside the jail premises by the Anti-Terrorism Court while the remaining prisoners are being tried by the same court outside the premises.
