RAWALPINDI: As many as 10 high profile, convicted terrorists were shifted to the new high security prison in Sahiwal from Adiala Jail on Wednesday.

Among the convincted prisoners transported to Sahiwal was Rana Naveed, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the Jhanda Chi Chi attack on former president Gen Pervez Musharraf.

An official source in the prison department told Dawn that about 925 convicted prisoners being housed in various jails across Punjab were scheduled to be shifted to the newly constructed prison facility that can hold 1,044 inmates.

Among those transported to Sahiwal were Hameed Ullah - who was convicted in the POF Wah factory attack and awarded a death sentence, Saqib Ali Shah – convicted in a 2012 terrorism case in the Wah Cantonment, Naseem Khan – convicted in a bomb attack in Jhand Attock, and Syed Zaman Khan – convicted in an attack on military personnel in Swabi.

Omer Adeel, who was convicted in the 2007 R.A. Bazaar bombing, Hafiz Akram Saeed, Mohammad Aslam, Ameer Sohail and Intikhab Ahmed were also among the prisoners taken to Sahiwal.

“All the prisoners involved in terrorism and sectarian terrorism cases will be shifted to the high security prison,” a senior prison department official said. The official said that over 50pc of these prisoners have already been transported.

According to official sources, 26 prisoners involved in terrorism cases and six prisoners involved in sectarian terrorism cases have been held at the Central Jail, Adiala.

Of the 26, seven have been awarded the death penalty, and their appeals are underway. Of the six involved in sectarian terrorism, three have been awarded the death penalty.

Mumtaz Qadri – the former police commando convicted in the murder of former Punjab government Salman Taseer – is currently being held at Adiala Jail, and will likely be shifted to Sahiwal during the second phase of the plan, the source said.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2016