KARACHI: Sindh Rangers official Colonel Tahir on Monday told a media briefing in Karachi that a bid to break into the city's Central Jail had been foiled by Rangers personnel.

Colonel Tahir said the Rangers personnel managed to find an underground tunnel being build inside a house near Central Jail which was aimed at leading directly into the jail barracks where high-value targets are being held.

The Rangers official said that during a raid conducted in Ghosia Colony — an impoverished locality near the Central Jail — Rangers personnel took some men into custody. The men, who were interrogated, revealed that a tunnel was being dug to enter directly into the jail.

Also read: Karachi central prison: A tinderbox of expanding militant networks

Colonel Tahir praised the response of Karachi's citizens in informing the Rangers about suspicious activities and said that 45 metres of tunnel had already been dug, whereas according to the Rangers' estimate, at least 55 metres were required to enter the premises.

The central jail has been a scene of explosions and other criminal activity in recent years with an attack on a Sindh High Court judge planned and partly executed from within the precincts of the prison.