High-profile prisoners virtually running Karachi Central Jail: CTD report

KARACHI: Prisoners belonging to banned outfits are virtually running the Karachi Central Jail and managing their network from behind bars without any fear or repercussions, a report by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has revealed.

The report said the prison officials have no power or control over certain dangerous prisoners, who openly hurl threats at the officials.

The report was prepared after the Karachi jailbreak incident, in which two members of the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) managed to escape on June 15.

The two under-trial prisoners, Sheikh Mohammad alias Firaun and Ahmed Khan alias Manako, were present in the jail’s judicial complex for a hearing when they managed to escape, an official had said.

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According to the report, the prison administration is forced to oblige to demands of certain prisoners of banned outfits, specifically Hafiz Qasim Rasheed alias Ganja, and are unable to implement prison rules and regulations either due to fear, incompetence or negligence.

The report has accused senior prison officials, including the superintendent, of failing to perform their duties, adding that majority of the prison officials agree to become part of the corrupt system.

Expanding on the virtual handling of the prison by the prisoners, the CTD report said that those belonging to political parties and banned outfits run the affairs through threats while the rest of the prisoners have to pay for every facility.

The state of affairs is such that prisoners can open and close the doors of wards, venture into any ward, visit the judicial complex without any court summon and manage their network from prison without any fear. The report said that the same had happened in the case of the prison break, in which the prisoners had escaped from the judicial complex, and the incident did not come to light because the prisoners themselves carry out the prison count.

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High-profile prisoners, including Qasim Rasheed, Sarmad Siddiqui and Minhaj Qazi, are heads of their respective wards, where they have access to every facility, the report said. 

Terrorists consider the prisons safer as they can manage their network without any action by the law enforcement agencies.

Prisoner Qasim Rasheed, an under-trial prisoner and in jail since five years, openly hurls threats at prison administration, police officials, witnesses and judicial staff. 

Sarmad Siddiqui, under trial for involvement in the Karachi airport attack, also threatens the officials, the CTD report added.

About the prison break, the report said there was malice involved in the arrest of the police officials in the incident, saying that majority of those arrested are not involved in helping the prisoners escape. On the contrary, attempts were made to protect powerful officials in the prison. Twelve police personnel, including the jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent, were arrested at the behest of Sindh law and prisons minister after the incident.

The report concludes by suggesting various recommendations and concrete steps to avoid any jailbreak incidents in future. It recommends increasing the amount of cases against terrorists belonging to banned outfits to military courts and asks for ensuring the speedy trial of the cases and handing out of sentences to the prisoners. A high-profile jail prison should be established where terrorists can be kept in isolation, the report recommends.

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The prison break incident had revealed the abysmal state of security in the Karachi Central Jail, prompting a strong response from Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. The two suspects Sheikh Muhammad and Ahmed Khan, who escaped last month from the central jail, were arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department in 2013 over their involvement in dozens of targeted killings.

Later, investigations showed that the two prisoners were also aided by other inmates..

Shah on July 3 had ordered that Prisons DIG Ashraf Nizamani and the relevant SHO be suspended over the incident.

Edited by: Sindhu Abassi