PESHAWAR:
A commission probing the brazen jailbreak in Bannu has blamed five government officials and 150 personnel of police and jail staff for negligence of duty and recommended actions against them, officials said on Wednesday.
Dozens of prisoners, including the mastermind of abortive assassination attempt on Pervez Musharraf, escaped after hordes of heavily armed militants stormed the Bannu Central Jail on April 15.
Officials familiar with the proceedings of the commission told The Express Tribune, while requesting anonymity, that it has completed its report and presented it to Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti.
Officials said the commission has found five officers, including DIG commissioner and DPO Bannu, APA Mir Ali, North Waziristan, political tehsildar Mir Ali, and 150 officials of jail and police guilty of negligence and recommended action against them. It has also proposed that the relevant authority should file charge-sheet against these officials and issue them show-cause notices.
The commission has called for tightening security of jails and provision of weapons and training to jail staff in order to avoid such incidents in the future. It also suggested installing cellular signal jammers to end the use of mobile phones and other devices in prison, besides adopting strict security for jails housing militants, the officials said.
The commission has recommended deployment of other law enforcement personnel besides police in sensitive districts.
The report is likely to be presented in a special meeting of the cabinet next week for its approval and the government will then take action.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain when approached for his comments said the provincial government would receive the report of the commission on Thursday. He said that a date would be chosen for a cabinet meeting following a review of the report.
Asked about 150 personnel being found guilty, he said it would be better to comment after going through the report.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2012.
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Strange country where we need jammers to stop prisoners from using mobile phones.Why prisoners are allowed mobile phones in the first place.Today we can't check mobile phones, tomorrow we may find pistols etc.in their hands.
@Aristo:
Not the flute a Violin.
When the GHQ can be attacked and held hostage, what other force or place can be safe. These are symptoms of total collapse. Rome is burning and Nero is playing the flute.