225, not 216 inmates escaped during Malir jailbreak

New prison superintendent writes letter to SP Investigation

KARACHI:

As many as 225 prisoners had escaped during a bizarre jailbreak at District Malir Jail triggered by chaos during a series of low-intensity earthquakes in the metropolitan city last month, officials disclosed on Tuesday disputing the claims of the previous prison administration which claimed 216 inmates had escaped.

The previous jail administration either deliberately concealed the figures or had erred because a recount showed 10 more prisoners were missing, according to a letter written by District Malir Jail Superintendent Shahabuddin Siddiqui to the SP Investigation Department Malir.

The previous jail administration had confirmed the escape of 216 prisoners. In his letter, Superintendent Siddiqui, however, wrote that took charge of Malir Jail on June 4, and subsequently conducted a complete count of the prisoners during the Eidul Azha holidays. It transpired that 10 more inmates were missing which means the total number of escapees was 225.

The letter stated that 146 prisoners have been rearrested thus far, while 79 are still at large. One prisoner's name was mentioned twice in the escapees' list. He further stated in the letter that action should be taken to arrest the 10 additional escaped prisoners.

One of the escapees, identified as Raza Pervaiz Masih, committed suicide in Madina Colony, Maripur, while another prisoner was killed in a shootout during the jailbreak.