• Six death-row prisoners among escapees; one dies during attempt
• Eight jail officials detained; AJK home secretary removed

MUZAFFARABAD: In a major security breach in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 19 inmates, including six on death row, escaped from the Rawalakot prison while one inmate, who was injured during the escape, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital, said police and official sources.

The incident occurred in Rawalakot, the district and divisional headquarters of Poonch, between 2pm and 2:30pm.

The thirty-year-old prison located adjacent to the district courts in the heart of the town has been in a dilapidated state for quite some time, whereas work on a new prison site on the outskirts of town has yet to be properly initiated.

In light of the jailbreak, eight prison officials, including the deputy superintendent, were detained for investigation while the AJK government also formed an inquiry committee to investigate the incident within a week.

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In a late-night press release, Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob said AJK PM Chaudhry Anwarul Haq had suspended prison officials, apart from removing special home secretary Badar Munir, who happens to be the ex-officio inspector general of prisons. He was attached with the services department as OSD. The information secretary said the government also requested the high court chief justice to constitute a judicial commission to probe the matter.

Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan and SP Riaz Mughal shared preliminary information from the jail administration with journalists.

They said a prisoner had asked a sentry to move his “lassi” (a yoghurt-based drink) outside his barrack. When the sentry obliged, the prisoner overpowered him, snatched his keys, and opened other barracks from where at least 19 prisoners made their way to the main gate. At that point, a pistol was thrown inside through the roof, which was used to break the lock from the inside. One prisoner was injured during the gunfire, but the others managed to escape, they said.

Among the escaped prisoners were six death row inmates. The escape was allegedly led by Ghazi Shahzad from AJK’s Sudhnoti district, who had been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Depart­ment along with three colleagues from the town of Hajira last year. Booked under Section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 302 of the Azad Penal Code (APC), he had not been convicted as of yet.

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Interestingly, Shahzad’s three associates did not escape, neither did the man who had killed a former JuD militant in a Rawalakot mosque last September. It may be noted here that on June 15, the AJK high court approved the transfer of Shahzad’s case from the Poonch anti-terrorism court (ATC) to Mirpur ATC, because the Poonch jail was extremely unsafe for detaining hardened criminals.

According to a handwritten list provided by the authorities, other prisoners were identified as Saqib Majeed, Usman Afraz, Shameer Azam, Aamir Abdullah, Faisal Hameed, Nazir Yasin (all on death row); Noman Asif, Asif Dil Mohammad, Saqleen Sarfraz (each serving 25-year sentence); Mukarram Faisal, Sajid Naseer, Sohail Rashid (serving 10-year term); Haibat­ullah, Faizan Aziz, Osama Murtaza, Amama Mustafa, and Muhammad Shabir (all under-trial prisoners for murder). The deceased prisoner was identified as Mohammad Khayyam, a resident of Mutyalmera village on the outskirts of Rawala­kot, who had been convicted under section 9C of the APC.

Later, police across the division were placed on high alert, and all entry and exit points of Poonch were sealed to recapture the prisoners.

The AJK government’s committee will probe the incident and submit its report within a week. According to a home department notification, the committee is headed by Chaudhry Muhammad Raqeeb, AJK Inland Revenue secretary, with Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan and DIG Poonch Range Shehryar Sikander as members.

The committee is tasked with identifying officials or officers and any other persons responsible for neglecting their duties or assisting the prisoners. It will also determine the factors that led to the jailbreak and suggest steps to prevent such incidents.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2024