Buried in time: Inquiry report of DI Khan jailbreak yet to be made public

It was sent to the CM’s office in mid-August; negligent officials still remain unpunished.

PESHAWAR:

The inquiry report of the DI Khan jailbreak was sent to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak over a month ago, but it still remains to be made public and the negligent officials are yet to be punished.

“The inquiry report has reached the CM, however, he is yet to take action against those considered as negligent officers,” an official privy to the matter told The Express Tribune.



The brazen jailbreak took place on July 29 in what was the second major assault on a prison within a year. In April 2012, around 200 heavily armed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed Bannu Central Prison and released 384 inmates, including several TTP members.

The then Awami National Party-led provincial government ordered an inquiry into the incident and in May 2012 the provincial cabinet declared the Bannu jail attack “a failure of the civil administration of Bannu, the political administration of North Waziristan, police and Frontier Constabulary.”

All responsible officials were then made ‘officers on special duty’, suspended and issued show-cause notices for their lapse in taking action.

On July 29 this year, a similar attack was carried out by the TTP on DI Khan Central Prison. The militants engaged the prison’s guards and security forces in a gun battle and successfully escaped with nearly 230 prisoners. At least 12 people were killed and seven injured during the assault.

Consequently, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government ordered an inquiry, which in August revealed police and jail authorities had kept the army in the dark about the attack.

However, the inquiry was later declared ‘deficient’ and another team comprising the then K-P Home and Tribal Affairs secretary Muhammad Azam Khan, Additional Secretary Home Alamgir Shah and Board of Revenue senior member Waqar Ayub was ordered to conduct a new one.

Officials within the home department said over 130 officials including high-ranking ones had been questioned before the report was submitted in mid-August. However, the provincial government seems hesitant to take action, they claimed.

Spokesperson for the chief minister, Shiraz Paracha said the government has already transferred Home and Tribal Affairs secretary Azam Khan and inspector general prisons Khalid Abbas in the wake of the attack.

He added the government was aware of threats of militant attacks on Peshawar Central Prison and has increased security provisions following intelligence information.

“The chief minister has raised concerns over why he was not informed about the threats to DI Khan jail when intelligence agencies had given information of the attack two days prior to it,” said Paracha.

When asked why no action had yet been taken against the two officials who were transferred after July’s jailbreak, Paracha refused to comment saying the government was still dealing with the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2013.