The voluntary return and arrests of prisoners who escaped from the District Jail Malir continues, with the number of those back in custody now reaching 126.
Officials confirmed that investigations into the jailbreak remain ongoing, while efforts to recapture the remaining 90 fugitives are being intensified through search operations across Karachi.
Authorities are encouraging voluntary surrenders as part of their strategy to bring the escapees back into custody.
Yesterday, 27 more inmates were re-arrested and returned to the jail, bringing the total number of recaptured prisoners to 105. However, 111 inmates remained at large.
According to jail authorities, a case pertaining to the jailbreak has been registered at Shah Latif Town Police Station, where an FIR was filed by the prison's Deputy Superintendent Zulfiqar Ali Pirzada under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act. The charges listed include attempted murder, dacoity, police encounter and terrorism, among others.
The authorities have appealed to the public for assistance in locating the remaining fugitives and have ramped up coordination between law enforcement agencies to ensure their swift capture. Raids are being carried out in different parts of the city with surveillance increased at the known residences of the escaped prisoners.
Furthermore, officials have announced that inmmates who return voluntarily to the jail will be granted leniency.
Read: Over 200 inmates escape from Malir Jail
CM orders probe
Meanwhile, in an emergency meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah ordered a thorough investigation into the Malir Jail escape incident. He assigned Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah to oversee the probe by involving Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi and Karachi Police Chief Javed Alam Odho.
Addressing the press after the meeting, Murad criticised the jail administration for failing to seek immediate assistance from local authorities and law enforcement agencies.
“There seems to have been a complete breakdown in communication and preparedness,” he said during the press conference.
He stressed that those found negligent would face consequences, “Those responsible will be held accountable”. The chief minister also instructed the home secretary to carry out a detailed security audit of all prisons across Sindh.
A robust search operation by the district and jail police and Rangers had followed the jail break, during which 90 escapees were recaptured on Tuesday.
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.
Around 3,000 prisoners gathered near the Mari Gate, causing a stampede.
The Home and Law Minister dubbed this jailbreak as “one of the largest-ever in Pakistan".
The prisoners took advantage of the situation, broke the locks of the Mari Gate, and started escaping by jumping over the jail walls.
Read More: Inmates escape from Karachi's Malir jail after breaking wall
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.
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.
The jailbreak started late night on June 2 and continued into early morning on June 3 after hundreds of inmates, unsettled by mild tremors, were brought into the prison yard as a safety measure, Sindh Home Minister Zia ul Hasan Lanjar said while speaking to reporters at the site.
A door-to-door search was conducted in the surrounding areas.
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