Akram Lahori among 38 ‘high profile’ prisoners brought back

Inmates were moved after threats of attacks on Karachi prison.

KARACHI:

Nearly 38 high profile prisoners were shifted back to the Karachi Central Jail from Hyderabad on Saturday.

A total of 51 inmates, who belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Jundullah and other militant organisations, were shifted to prisons in Hyderabad and Sukkar in August after intelligence agencies alerted Karachi prison authorities about impending attacks. The reports came after dozens of TTP militants stormed a prison in Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this April, and freed nearly 400 inmates.

Akram Lahori, Waseem Barodi, Ishtiaq Bajwa, Ataullah, Qasim Toori and Alauddin, who are all allegedly involved in multiple terrorist attacks, were among those who were shifted back to Karachi on Saturday. Jail superintendent Shakir Shah confirmed that 38 inmates had been brought back to Karachi.



A senior official told The Express Tribune, on the condition of anonymity, that the jail administration had beefed up security at the Karachi Central Jail following the arrival of the prisoners.

He added that the inmates were being shifted on “court orders”. Another 13 prisoners from Sukkur are expected to be brought back to the Karachi jail today.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.