FC officials pose for a selfie with the inmate who was attempting to escape from the prison on Wednesday morning. PHOTO: EXPRESS
According to an official posted at the Karachi Central Jail, the inmate, Shehryar Khan, son of Abdul Rehman, was imprisoned at the Ayub Ward in the facility and had tried to escape from the side of Ghosia Colony after the barracks were opened in the morning.
There are three security cordons inside the jail premises, bordered by a peripheral wall that abuts the main road. The first two cordons are manned by police and paramilitary troops, while the third layer, which is a bombproof wall, is secured by the FC. The fourth layer is manned by district police personnel and paramilitary troopers.
On Wednesday morning, Shehryar crossed all three layers easily, with no police official present to stop him. He was only noticed by an FC official, who was stationed atop a watchtower on the third security wall. The FC official trained his weapon at the inmate and warned him to stop. He then radioed jail officials and stepped down from the watchtower to hold the prisoner until backup arrived. Soon after, a large contingent of police officials arrived at the spot and took the inmate back to the barracks.
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Rewarded for negligence
What was most surprising was that the Prisons IG Muzaffar Alam Siddiqui, when briefed about the incident, announced a reward for the FC official, Wali Khan, and Prison Police official Yamin, which includes certificates of appreciation and cash prizes for both personnel.
According to a Karachi Central Jail official, who spoke to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, the jail administration was trying to hide its negligence by rewarding its own official, despite the fact that the prisoner had managed to circumvent the security layers they were supposed to be guarding.
The inmate
The prisoner, Shehryar Khan, is currently being tried in two cases pertaining to motorcycle theft and possession of illegal weapons.
The case pertaining to the motorcycle theft against the accused was registered at Nazimabad Police Station, while the other case was registered at the Liaquatabad Police Station. The accused was transferred to the Karachi Central Jail on April 24 and was assigned prisoner number 2366.
According to jail officials, Shehryar is a habitual drug user and he gave contradictory statements to the police during interrogation after the foiled escape attempt on Wednesday morning.
At one point, he said he was having withdrawal symptoms, while at another, he said he simply wanted to escape. Shehryar also maintained that he was acting alone and no other inmate had helped him in the attempted prison break. While in contrast he said that he just wanted to escape from the jail in his other statement. He denied and said that he was alone in escaping attempt when he was asked that who else was involved in this effort with him.
A chequered past
This wasn't the first time the Central Jail, which houses over 5,000 inmates, including under-trial prisoners and convicts, has had to deal with a prison break scare.
A female inmate, imprisoned at the Women's Jail located inside the periphery of the Karachi Central Jail also tried to escape in April 2017. She scaled the wall on the side of PIB Colony. Prison officials deployed at the watchtowers only noticed her when passersby present on the other side of the wall pointed her out. She was subsequently arrested and taken back to her barrack.
In June 2017, two high-security prisoners had managed to hoodwink the prison officials and escape from the facility. They haven't been arrested to date.
The inmates, Sheikh Muhammad Mumtaz alias Firawn alias Sher Khan, son of Sheikh Muhammad Muslim, and Muhammad Ahmed Khan alias Munna, son of Muhammad Shafi, simply walked out of the facility on June 14, 2017. They had gone inside the court located within the jail premises, changed their clothes inside the washroom and simply walked out from the main entrance of the prison.
Subsequently, a case was registered against 12 Prison police officials, including the jail superintendent. One of the officials has since died of a heart attack, while several others are out on bail.
A grand operation was also carried out inside the jail after this incident and a large number of electronic products and contraband was seized from the inmates' possession.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2019.
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