QUETTA / MUZAFFARABAD: A second jailbreak in as many days resulted in the escape of three under-trial prisoners from a sub-jail in Balochistan’s central town of Duki, 200km from Quetta.

Earlier on Sunday, 19 inmates, including six on death row, escaped from a prison in Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, with one of them succumbing to injuries sustained during the daring endeavour.

According to Duki police station SHO Jalil Ahmed Marri, the three prisoners allegedly involved in heinous crimes, including robberies and murder, escaped the Duki prison after breaking a washroom ventilator.

Mr Marri added that 13 under-trial prisoners kept in the sub-jail of Duki are allowed to use the washroom inside the premises in the morning, during which the three escaped.

Search parties yet to locate 18 criminals who escaped from AJK’s Poonch jail

He added that a search operation has been launched to locate the prisoners, who have been identified as Asmatullah, Abdul Kabir and Muhammad Sadiq.

The three have been booked in an FIR, along with the prison warden and two cops posted to monitor the inmates.

The three policemen, including Warden Gul Khan, Head Constable Abdul Ghani and Constable Ismail Marri, have been booked for negligence and dereliction of duty, which resulted in the escape, Mr Marri added.

Balochistan’s inspector general of prisons has taken notice of the incident and ordered a probe.

No trace of Poonch escapees

In Azad Kashmir, security agencies were unsuccessful, until late Monday night, in hunting down any of the 18 escaped inmates despite an extensive search operation and announcement of reward for information.

The region’s police chief, Rana Abdul Jabbar, told Dawn that search teams were utilising all available resources to arrest the escaped prisoners.

Poonch DIG Shehryar Sikander is leading the operation, with five SPs as well as support from the army and anti-terrorism force, IG Jabbar added.

Additionally, drones are also being used to scan forests, he said.

The IGP said that the names of all escapees have been added to the Provisional National Information List to prevent them from flying abroad.

The region’s government has also announced a reward of Rs3-10 million for information leading to the capture of the escaped prisoners, the IGP said.

According to the sources, the AJK home department had also shared the data of escaped prisoners with federal and provincial governments for help.

Also on Monday, Khawaja Sanaullah Dar, the superintendent of district jail in neighbouring Bagh, assumed the additional charge of Rawalakot district jail superintendent. His predecessor, superintendent Zaheer Kiani, has been suspended for dereliction of duty.

According to sources, there were no security cameras inside the jail, and inmates were allowed to meet visitors on a daily basis in violation of prison regulations.

The committee formed to probe the incident has also visited the jail and recorded statements of several inmates as well as the prison officials.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024