Escape of 2 Deobandi terrorists from jail due to criminal negligence of officials: CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said yesterday that the escape of two under trial prisoners belonging to the banned Deobandi terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi from the Central Jail Karachi in June was the result of criminal negligence by jail officials. He said 15 officials concerned had been arrested in this connection. However, three of them were later released on bail.

Also on Thursday, officials and sources said that investigators probing into the escape of the two undertrial prisoners claimed to have found “key link” that might help police trace them. They said the escapees — who are alleged members of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) — were believed to have stayed for 10 days in a village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before travelling to Balochistan.
Talking to reporters after attending the concluding ceremony of the three-day urs of Sufi saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi here, the chief minister said that the escape of the two prisoners could not be ignored because police and other security agencies made hectic efforts to arrest them. The escape from jail was a criminal matter and the government was taking it very seriously and that was the reason it had suspended some senior officials, he added.
Answering a question, Mr Shah said he had no report whether the escapees had fled to Afghanistan or were hidden somewhere in the country. However, he added, “we are in close contact with other provinces and all agencies, including police, Rangers and intelligence agencies, which are working in close coordination to arrest them.”