GB jail escape: Man involved in Nanga Parbat massacre among two fleeing prisoners

Published February 27, 2015
Prisoners inside a jail.  — AFP/File
Prisoners inside a jail. — AFP/File

GILGIT: Four prisoners at the district jail Gilgit made an attempt to escape early on Friday during which two prisoners, including one involved in the Nanga Parbat massacre case, managed to flee while one inmate was killed and another wounded, a report published on the BBCUrdu website said.

Security personnel cordoned off the area after the incident as a search for the runaway prisoners went under way.

A reward of Rs2million was also announced by Gilgit Baltistan (GB) Home Secretary Sibtain Ahmed for people who help the authorities in capturing Habibur Rehman, the escaped inmate involved in the Nanga Parbat massacre.

Inspector General of Police Zafar Iqbal Awan suspended three officials, including the jail warden, over the incident.

GB chief secretary Sikandar Sultan Raja told BBC that the incident was "not a case of an attack on the jail but rather an escape bid by four prisoners who were perceived as armed by some persons inside the jail or may have portrayed themselves as armed".

He confirmed that one suspect involved in the Nanga Parbat massacre had managed to escape while another suspect in the case was killed by security forces' firing. He added that the other two prisoners, one of whom managed to escape while the other was wounded, had no connection with the Nanga Parbat attack.

Frontier Constabulary and Gilgit-Baltistan police are responsible for the security of the jail's inner perimeters whereas the outer precincts fall under the GB Scouts, according to Raja Sikandar.

Also read: Police arrest 18 over Nanga Parbat massacre

Ten foreign climbers and a Pakistani guide and cook were killed as gunmen wearing the uniform of paramilitary Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts stormed into the base camp of Nanga Parbat, one of the world’s highest mountains, in the scenic Himalayan valley of Bunar Das in Gilgit-Baltistan on Jun 22, 2013.

The attack was claimed separately by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Jundullah militant organisations.

Also read: High altitude police unit set up in GB

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