SIALKOT, July 25: Three civil judges and five prisoners were killed and two judges critically wounded inside the Sialkot district jail on Friday evening when police raided the prison to free 10 judges taken hostage by the prisoners earlier in the day.

Serving jail terms in various cases of kidnapping for ransom and robbery, the prisoners, who were armed, had taken hostage to the judges when they were visiting the jail on their monthly judicial inspection. The prisoners wanted their freedom in return for that of the judges.

The judges who died in the shootout were identified as additional district and sessions judge Sagheer Anwar and civil judges Shahid Muneer Ranjha and Asif Mumtaz Cheema. The condition of two other judges, Sheharyar Bukhari and Sibtain Kazmi, was described by Sialkot district headquarters hospital doctors as critical.

The judges were taken hostage at about 11am when they went to the jail to visit barracks housing women prisoners.

The hostage drama lasted for nearly seven hours, with police raiding the jail at 5.30pm.

Addressing a news conference after the ‘commando action’, Gujranwala Range DIG Malik Iqbal said the raid was carried out when the captors killed civil judge Asif Mumtaz Cheema.

“The action had become necessary to save other hostages,” he said.

He said police had negotiated with the captors through a wireless set for five hours.

The five prisoners-cum-captors who also died in the shootout were identified as Ejaz alias Jaji, Muneer alias Muneeri, Shehbaz, Ishaq and Rafeeq.

An inquiry has been ordered as to how the prisoners secured arms, but sources said the weapons might have been brought into the jail in coal bags.

According to official sources, district and sessions judge Chaudhry Zafar Hussain with seven other judges, Shaikh Mohammad Naeem, Sagheer Anwar, Saeed Rafiq, Javaid Iqbal Warraich, Tariq Mehmood Malik, Shahid Muneer Ranjha, Sheharyar Bukhari, and judicial magistrates Pervez Iqbal and Sibtain Kazmi visited the jail as part of their monthly inspection. When they were near the women’s barracks, five armed prisoners pounced upon them and opened fire. The judges saved their lives by falling to the floor. The assailants then aimed at judge Chaudhry Zafar Hussain, but he was able to escape.

The shooting left jail warden Mohammad Ramzan seriously wounded, who accompanied the judges.

The captors took the rest of the judges and some 60 women prisoners hostage. They told the jail officials and the district government representatives that they had done so to obtain a safe exit.

A huge contingent of police was called in from Narowal, Gujranwala and Gujrat districts who surrounded the jail.

District government and jail officials continued negotiations with the captors through a wireless system till 4pm. The captors demanded a bus, guns and safe passage from the jail with the Three judges, 5 prisoners killed in Sialkot jail hostages.

The DIG said the operation was launched after the negotiations had failed and added that Elite Force’s sub-inspector Mehmood was injured in the shootout.

He said police had arrested the two masterminds of the kidnapping drama, besides arresting some other suspects who might have helped the outlaws in getting arms.

Over two dozen ambulances were parked outside the jail as the hostage drama wound on. Official sources confirmed that police had not been able to secure the release of any judge till 4pm, as claimed by a news agency.

The Sialkot district government had declared an emergency in the jail as well as in the district. After the tragedy, locals reached the hospital for donation of their blood.

STRIKE: The Sialkot judiciary and lawyers announced a day of mourning for the tragedy on Saturday, when all the courts will remain closed.