QUETTA: Initial investigation into the Chaman jailbreak has identified serious security lapses as only three personnel were guarding 17 prisoners who escaped on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the forces remained unsuccessful in their efforts to re-arrest 13 of those prisoners despite the passage of four days since the jailbreak.

According to officials, seventeen prisoners who were undergoing trials for allegedly committing heinous crimes were being kept in jail. They managed to escape after snatching weapons and injuring the jailer and security personnel when they were brought from their cells for morning prayers.

The three security personnel present at the time of the escapade also included the jailer who was attacked by the prisoners with sticks as soon as he opened the cells’ locks. The inmates snatched an AK-47 rifle from one of the security guards and broke the lock of the prison’s main gate.

Chaman District Police Officer Naeem Achakzai has suspended six jail and police officials who were responsible for the security but were not present for their duties at the time of the jailbreak.

According to officials, one prisoner was killed and two injured as security forces engaged the escaped prisoners.

An operation was laun­ched to nab the remaining prisoners, many of whom, the authorities fear, have crossed the district’s border and escaped to Afghanistan.

A senior official told Dawn that Afghan authorities have been contacted and cases have been registered against the 13 prisoners. Officials were also questioning one of the prisoners who returned voluntarily.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2023