Gilgit jailbreak: Six prison officials suspended, judicial inquiry ordered

Two prisoners, including key suspect in high-profile murder case, escaped on Wednesday.

GILGIT:

The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government suspended six jail officials and ordered a judicial inquiry on Thursday, a day after two under-trial prisoners, including a key suspect in a high-profile murder case, escaped from a prison.

“The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mehdi Shah and attended by the G-B Scouts commander, home secretary, DIG police, and senior officials of Rangers and FC on Thursday,” Sajjadul Haq, a spokesman for the Chief Minister Secretariat, told The Express Tribune.



“Four policemen and two jail wardens have been suspended for negligence,” said the official, adding that they would be questioned over their possible role in the jailbreak. Haq also said that all exit and entry routes have been sealed to catch the prisoners.

Shakirullah Jan and Arifuddin escaped from the jail late Wednesday night after reportedly intoxicating the security personnel on duty.

Jan, who is from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, had been facing a trial in an Anti-Terrorism Court in Gilgit for the murder of a cleric, Agha Ziauddin Rizvi, in January 2005. The assassination of the eminent cleric had led to the killing of nearly 20 people in the days that followed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2012.