DI Khan jailbreak: 45 escaped prisoners arrested

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Police claimed to have arrested 45 of the over 240 prisoners who escaped during a jailbreak.

Relaxation in the curfew timings was announced in Dera Ismail Khan following the militants’ attack on the Central Prison while the case was also registered in Chaowni Police Station against unknown men.

Commissioner Dera Ismail Khan Irfanullah told that curfew will be relaxed from 10:00 am to 12 noon, and for an hour from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the city today.

Meanwhile, the case of the jailbreak was registered against the unidentified attackers in the Chaowni Police Station.

Repair work was also kicked off at the Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison.

It is pertinent to mention that the militants early on Tuesday morning helped 243 prisoners escape from the British-era Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison after killing 12 people, including six policemen, while five attackers were also killed.

Inspector General Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ihsan Ghani told that 60 to 70 men, armed with heavy weapons and explosives, carried out the attack during which around 250 prisoners managed to escape.

A number of hardened militants were among the inmates of the Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison. Among them was Walid Akbar, who had been awarded 1,616 years jail sentence for his involvement in bombing of the Ashura procession in the city last year.

Officials and eyewitnesses said over 100 attackers came in vehicles and also on motorbikes to storm the prison from all the four sides simultaneously as one group opened fire on a security check post near the jail that was built in 1854.

Locals said they heard dozens of huge and minor explosions starting from 11:15pm on Monday that continued till 2:30am on Tuesday.

Expressing anger over the jailbreak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak termed it a failure of the intelligence agencies. He ordered a probe into the jailbreak, vowing to take the strictest action against those found negligent. The joint inquiry committee that he constituted to probe the incident was asked to submit the report within 15 days.

Furthermore, 27 cops, including a superintendent of police (SP), were suspended for showing negligence during the whole episode. The authorities had reportedly got reports that the militants were planning to attack the prison.

Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed that more than 250 prisoners escaped from the jail.“Majority of our people along with the freed prisoners reached a secure place. Some of our very senior people also succeeded to escape,” the spokesman claimed.

Around 300 prisoners had escaped in a similar jailbreak in Bannu when scores of militants stormed the dungeon in April last year.