14 under-trial prisoners escape from van during transfer to Adiala jail

RAWALPINDI: Fourteen under-trial prisoners escaped from a prison van on Monday while they were being shifted from Kahuta to Adiala jail after overpowering security personnel, according to a statement.

A Rawalpindi Police spokesperson said City Police Officer Hamdani took notice after reports emerged that prisoners had fled from the vehicle in the Sihala area. The spokesperson said senior officers were directed to reach the spot immediately, submit a report and begin an operation to track down the escapees.

Police later said four of the fleeing prisoners had been arrested again during the operation, while teams continued efforts to capture the remaining men. The spokesperson said those who escaped were facing cases that are currently under trial.

The statement said the incident took place within the limits of Sihala police station in Islamabad district, and that coordination was under way with the relevant police authorities. According to the initial inquiry, a violent clash broke out among the prisoners inside the van before the escape occurred.

The police spokesperson said the prisoners who escaped would be arrested and proceeded against under the law. The statement also said an inquiry had been launched under senior officers and that strict departmental action would be taken against any officials found responsible.

Recent prison escape incidents

Earlier this month, police registered a case against two police officials and two other individuals after an under-trial prisoner escaped from Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi.

Last year, more than 200 inmates escaped from District Prison Malir in Karachi. After that jailbreak, which Sindh Law Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar described as one of the largest in Pakistan, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah removed the provincial prisons chief and suspended the deputy inspector general of prisons as well as the jail superintendent.