FAISALABAD, Dec 28: The district police have failed to trace the two convicted prisoners, who had escaped from the central jail three days ago.

Reports said special teams of police and jail officials raided several places in Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Faisalabad, Jhang and some other areas of adjoining districts for the arrest of Muhammad Ishtiaq, 38, and Sabir Husain, 42, involved in separate murder cases.

But all their efforts proved futile. Police sources said three close relatives of the absconders had been taken into custody from their houses to get information about the possible hideout of the prisoners. They, however, kept the names of the arrested men secret.

Assistant superintendents Rana Irfan Suleman and Muhammad Naseem, head warders Muhammad Haneef, Nasrullah Khan and Naeem Ahmad, and 12 warders - Khalid Yaqoob, Akbar Ali, Ghulam Abbas, Ghulam Ali, Muhammad Nawaz Saqi, Athar Hayat, Muhammad Mujtaba, Noor Ahmad, Jawed Omar, Ghulam Akbar and Muhammad Younis, who had been suspended from service and are in police custody, were questioned on the third consecutive day by the interrogators.

However, none of the officials took the responsibility of the prisoners' escape. It is learnt that both the captives were busy whitewashing their barracks along with other inmates and low-paid employees of the jail. They slipped away after hoodwinking the guards.

The jail management learnt about the incident in the late hours of Friday. Muhammad Ishtiaq and Sabir Husain, who were serving life imprisonment, fled the jail on the night between Dec 24 and 25 with the alleged connivance of the jail functionaries. Saddar police have already registered a case under section 223 and 224 PPC against the jail staff on duty.