• Ordinance promulgated to empower CM to post PSP officers in Sindh jails in place of officials from prisons service
• 105 rearrested out of 216 escapees so far
• Meetings between families, inmates resume

KARACHI: Police and allied agencies are taking all-out efforts to recapture over a hundred prisoners who escaped from District Prison Malir on Monday night and are still at large, officials said on Wednesday.

The jailbreak began on Monday night and continued into the early hours of Tuesday after hundreds of prisoners — spooked by low-intensity quakes — were allowed into the prison courtyard. Later, the prisoners snatched guns from prison staff and forced open the main gate after a shootout and fled.

Officials said that 216 inmates had managed to break out of the prison and by Tuesday night 83 of them had been rounded up and police teams were carrying out raids to bring in those still at large.

On Wednesday, jail officials accompanying Sindh Prisons Minister Ali Hasan Zardari during his visit to the Malir jail told the media that out of 216 escapees, a total of 105 prisoners had been recaptured and 111 prisoners were still at large.

They said meetings of prisoners with their families have been resumed amid strict security arrangements.

The minister was briefed about the jailbreak and escape of over 200 prisoners following a small-intensity earthquake in the area.

However, he did not speak much about the high-profile incident, saying the Sindh government had formed an inquiry committee and it would not be advisable for him to talk prior to their findings.

Accompanied by newly appointed DIG-Prisons Aslam Malik, Malir jail superintendent Shahabuddin Siddiqi and Malir SSP Kashif Abbasi, the minister said escaped prisoners were returning back to the jail voluntarily. He promised that no action would be taken against such prisoners.

He said the jail would be upgraded to accommodate more prisoners while new barracks would be constructed. He said the prisoners are getting all facilities as per jail manual.

Following the jailbreak, the Sindh government had formed a two-member inquiry committee comprising Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi and city police chief Javed Alam Odho to conduct a thorough investigation.

The Sindh chief minister had ordered the removal of Inspector General of Prisons Qazi Nazir and suspended DIG-Prisons Hassan Sehto and Jail Superintendent Arshad Hussain.

The now-suspended prison superintendent had claimed in his report that prisoners became agitated due to tremors and started raising a commotion and shouting from the barracks. When security staff rushed to control the situation, many of the inmates broke down the doors of the barracks at Circle No IV, overpowered the jailer and other security staff and rushed towards the main gate.

Ordinance promulgated

Also on Wednesday, acting Sindh Governor Awais Qadir Shah promulgated an ordinance — the Sindh Prisons & Corrections Service (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 — empowering the Sindh chief minister to appoint an officer of the Police Service of Pakistan, Pakistan Administrative Service or Provincial Management Service as the prisons IG and DIG in place of officers belonging to the regular prisons service.

Governor Kamran Tessori is out of country and in his absence Sindh Assembly Speaker Shah became the acting governor.

Officials said that after the new law, the provincial government can post police officers as SSP and SP of prisons across the province.

They said that the decision was taken against the backdrop of the Malir jailbreak.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2025