NEWS: ONE KILLED AS 20 INMATES STAGE PAKISTAN JAILBREAK
Read Time:1 Minute, 13 Second
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, twenty prisoners, some of whom were charged with terrorism, staged a jail break on Sunday, sources informed AFP. One of the prisoners was reportedly “killed in the crossfire” during the escape.
“The inmates had a revolver that they used to hold a sentry hostage,” said Badar Munir, an official with the regional ministry of interior.
“It is unclear whether they seized it (the weapon) from jail officials or if it was brought in from outside,” Munir added.
The incident took place at the Poonch district jail in Rawalakot city, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
GUNMEN ATTACK WEDDING HALL IN FRANCE, KILLS ONE, INJURES FIVE
“In total, 20 people escaped from the prison. One was killed in the crossfire, while 19 others remain at large,” the inspector general of Kashmir prisons, Waheed Ali Gillani, told AFP.
According to senior local police officer Riaz Mughal, AFP, police had sealed Rawalakot’s entry and exit gates, and a search was in progress to find the escapees.
Pakistani prisons are well-known for their extreme congestion, subpar architecture, corruption, and breaches of inmate rights. Longer prison stints are also a result of delayed legal proceedings.
In the past, militant organisations have carried out a number of large-scale jailbreaks in Pakistan; in 2012, 400 inmates were freed from a jail in the town of Bannu in the northwest.
AFP
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0