One of the convicts recaptured, search for the rest under way. DESIGN: SAMRA AAMIR
Three prisoners escaped from the judicial lockup at Saddar police station in Tank after overpowering a guard early Saturday morning.
According to a police official, prisoners were taken out of the lockup at around 6am for morning prayers but before they could be locked back inside, Yaseen Khan, Muntazar Bhittani and Jawed attacked one of the guards at the main gate and escaped. A police official said the escaped prisoners were dangerous criminals involved in various cases of murder and robbery.
The jail’s superintendent, Muhammad Nahim, said Khan was rearrested and a search was under way for the remaining two prisoners. He said officials deputed at the police station were careless which is why the prisoners escaped successfully.
Giving the official version of events, Nahim said on Saturday morning a police official deployed at the lockup went inside the prison cell when one of the prisoners attacked him and made possible the escape of the other three convicts.
It has been disclosed that of the ten police officials deputed at the lockup, only two were on duty.
Tank DPO Anwar Saeed Kundi has ordered the arrest of five policemen deployed at the judicial lockup and registered a case against them for negligence in duty. The DPO has also suspended those that were absent from duty at the time of the incident.
According to a police official, the lockup at the Saddar police station has a capacity of 15 but at the time of the incident, there were 60 prisoners in the premises. He said the prisoners are usually transferred to DI Khan Central Jail but were kept at the police station due to ongoing court hearings.
After the incident, Tank Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Farooq Swati, DPO Kundi and Assistant Commissioner Riaz Khan Dawar visited the police station to inquire about the incident and recorded statements of all those deployed at the lockup.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th, 2014.
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