Taking advantage of the chaos during an earthquake, at least 216 prisoners escaped from Malir Jail on Monday midnight amidst firing by security guards.
A robust search operation by the district and jail police and Rangers followed, during which 90 escapees were recaptured, while the rest are still at large.
According to the police, the jail administration evacuated the prisoners from the barracks as a precautionary measure due to the potential danger following the earthquake.
Over 1,000 prisoners gathered near the Mari Gate, causing a stampede. The prisoners took advantage of the situation, broke the locks of the Mari Gate, and started escaping by jumping over the jail walls.
Jail police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel tried to stop the prisoners by firing warning shots.
However, one prisoner snatched a kalashnikov from a police officer and started firing indiscriminately, injuring two FC personnel and one police officer.
Other prisoners also injured officials with stones and sticks and managed to escape. The intense firing caused panic in the area, and traffic on the National Highway was suspended.
The road from Quaidabad to Malir Jail was closed, resulting in long queues of vehicles between Malir Kala Board and Quaidabad.
A large contingent of District Malir police, Rangers, and FC reached the scene.
The IG and DIG prisons, Superintendent of Jail, SSP Malir, and other senior officials also reached the site.
The Sindh Home Minister, Zia ul Hassan Lanjar took notice of the incident and directed SSP Malir to take immediate action and arrest the escaped prisoners.
He instructed effective measures, surveillance, intelligence, and roadblocks, and ordered strict departmental action against negligent officials.
A house-to-house search was conducted in the surrounding areas.
Locals captured videos of the escaping prisoners and shared them on social media, showing some shirtless prisoners fleeing barefoot and others escaping in six-seat rickshaws.
In the initial search operation, 50 prisoners were arrested from the jail quarters, while Malir City police arrested 19 prisoners from different vehicles, and Sukhan police arrested eight others.
The police also made announcements on mosque loudspeakers to inform the public about the prisoners' descriptions. Identity cards were checked, and suspicious individuals were taken in custody for questioning.
Meanwhile, a woman took her son and his friend back to the jail, one of whom was a drug addict and reached home at 3:30am after escaping.
The woman said, she gave them meal before taking them back to the jail.
She is hopeful that her son would recover from drug addiction in the jail.
IG Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon also reached Malir Jail on Tuesday morning and received a briefing from the Superintendent on the situation.
Most of the prisoners were jailed in narcotics cases, and several of them had psychological issues.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has removed the Inspector General of Prisons and suspended the DIG Prisons and Malir Jail Superintendent over the incident.
Shah termed the incident "completely unacceptable" and vowed to hold those responsible accountable, citing gross negligence by jail authorities.
Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said announced that no strict action would be taken against prisoners who voluntarily return within 24 hours.
However, those who fail to return, will be charged under the provisions of jailbreak, which carry a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
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