Bannu jailbreak: Peshawar High Court orders judicial probe

Provin­cial govt holdin­g panick­ed meetin­gs, planni­ng to try to re-arrest the escape­d inmate­s still at...

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has ordered a judicial inquiry into the Bannu prison break, appointing two officials who have been given three days to file their report to the provincial apex court.

A senior government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan had personally taken note of the issue. “The two people appointed to the judicial committee are Ashfaq Taj, an additional registrar at the PHC’s Bannu Bench, and District and Sessions Judge Adil Khan,” said the official.

The two-member committee has been given three days to complete their probe, which will require them to question the staff of the jail that was on duty at the time of the audacious escape on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the incident appears to have created a panic within the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, with the police department, intelligence agencies and other government officials holding meetings round the clock since Sunday to determine how exactly the Taliban were able to free 384 prisoners and how those still at large may be recaptured.

Sources within the provincial home and tribal affairs department said that intelligence agencies and police officials have been drawing up detailed plans for the re-arrest of the 281 prisoners still at large. “Every relevant department has been given a specific list of tasks to perform,” said one source.

A spokesperson for the department, Qamar Ali, confirmed that the meetings had been taking place. “Yes, the government and police officials are keeping close contact with the intelligence agencies to arrest all the escaped prisoners of the Bannu jail,” he said, but declined to elaborate further.

Sources also confirmed that 103 prisoners, including those who voluntarily turned themselves in, has so far been rearrested.

The Kurram Agency administration has confirmed arresting two prisoners who managed to escape from Bannu jail. Sources in the administration confirmed that Sardar Ali and Mushtaq Hussain, charged with murder, were arrested at a security checkpoint at Chaprai.

Meanwhile, Ayub Khan, a death-row prisoner, who also escaped from the Bannu jail was found dead in the Ping area bordering the Bannu Frontier Region.