Two years after escaping Bannu prison, death row convict re-arrested from Hub

Raja had escaped during Taliban attack on Bannu Jail, and had moved to Karachi before shifting to Balochistan

QUETTA: A death row prisoner, who had escaped during the Bannu jailbreak in 2012, was arrested by Hub Police in Balochistan on Wednesday.

Rameez Raja, son of Abdul Shakoor, was arrested during a raid in Lasbela area of Balochistan, ASP Hub Police Zaidullah Khan claimed during a press conference on Wednesday.

Khan said Raja had been working as a welder in the industrial town of Hub. “Raja was arrested during a raid conducted on the information of a police informer.”

Raja, originally a resident of Kohat, was awarded death penalty in July 2012, for murdering his aunt. An FIR was registered against him at Gambat Police Station Kohat. But he had fled along with 400 other inmates after Taliban stormed the Bannu jail in April 2012, two months before being convicted.

“Raja said he had spent a few days in mountainous areas before moving to Korangi area of Karachi where he obtained a fake National Identity Card (NIC) under the alias Aftab Ahmed,” said ASP Khan adding that the prisoner also revealed that he lived in New Karachi area of Karachi for a brief period of time before moving to Hub.