Rangers launch search operation at Karachi central jail, adjacent locality

Sources say barracks housing inmates belonging to banned outfits are being frisked

Officials of Sindh Rangers on Saturday launched a search operation at Karachi’s Central Jail, its adjoining juvenile prison and Ghousia Colony, a neighbourhood adjacent to the prison on a tipoff to thwart any terrorist activity from taking place in the city.

Barracks housing inmates belonging to proscribed organisation are being specifically targeted in the operation, Express News reported. The inmates, who are being questioned, are also barred from meeting their family members during the operation, said sources.

There are also reports of recovery of some prohibited material during the search operation.

Last year, two members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Shaikh Muhammad Imtiaz alias Firoun and Ahmed Khan alias Munna escaped from the jail in a dramatic fashion on June 13, leaving the authorities, who had made claims of fool proof security at the prisons, dumbfounded.



In Karachi the threat of a jailbreak has been looming for years and intelligence agencies have repeatedly issued warnings about these activities by terrorist groups. One such attempt was thwarted around two-and-a-half-years back when, during a raid, the Rangers discovered a tunnel being dug towards the prison.

The tunnel was being dug at a small house located north east of the jail in Ghausia Colony, which is just a narrow lane away from the outer perimeter of the prison. It is said that the two-storey house was purchased by terrorists solely for this purpose. At the time of discovery, the tunnel was five feet high, three feet wide and 45 metres-long.

The terrorists had used the water tank as it base. It was just 10 meters short of its target inside in the prison. Investigators believe as many as 100 hardcore militants could have been freed if the terrorists were successful.