ATC extends remand of three jail officials

CTD wants extended custody to question them regarding recent jailbreak

KARACHI: The anti-terrorism courts’ administrative judge extended on Friday physical remand of three jail officials for seven more days in a case pertaining to the escape of two under-trial prisoners belonging to a terrorist outfit.

The Counter-Terrorism Department reproduced Central Jail, Karachi Assistant Superintendent Ayaz Salik, Deputy Superintendent Rafiq Ahmed Channa and head clerk Naveed Ahmed Khan before the administrative judge at the end of their four-day physical remand and sought their custody for a longer period.

The administrative judge allowed the CTD to keep the custody of the suspects till July 14. Twelve other staffers of the prison have already been remanded to prison in the present case and are also being investigated.

Two members of the terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Shaikh Muhammad Imtiaz alias Firoun and Muhammad Ahmed Khan alias Munna, escaped from the ATC complex located inside the jail premises on June 13.



Following the report of the incident, Prisons Inspector-General Nusrat Mangan suspended central jail superintendent Ghulam Murtaza Shaikh, deputy superintendent Faheem Memon, assistant superintendent Abdul Rehman Shaikh, ASI Faroosh Muhammad, police commando Nawab Ali and constables Atta Muhammad, Muhammad Amir, Abdul Ghafoor, Saeed Ahmed, Muhammad Sajjad, Taigal Naseer and Nadir Ali.

The suspended officials were subsequently booked under sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant), 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his law apprehension), 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person), 225-A (omission to apprehend or sufferance of escape on part of public servant) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 at the New Town police station on the directives of the prison authorities. Later the sections 6 and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1999 were included in the case.