Top officials removed over Bannu jailbreak

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti has removed Commissioner Bannu, IG Jails, Deputy Superintendent Jail and DIG Police from their posts over Bannu jailbreak incident.
The Home Ministry of KPK has meanwhile sent the preliminary investigation report of Bannu jailbreak incident to the federal Interior Ministry. The report has accused the police and intelligence agencies for the incident and termed it a ‘failure’ of the intelligence agencies.
Taliban militants stormed the Central Prison, Bannu, with rockets and automatic weapons to enable over 384 prisoners to escape from different barracks early Sunday morning. According to the report, at least 150 militants came in 25 vehicles and conducted operation for two hours.
Despite the presence of three police stations in nearby vicinity, police forces could not reach the Central Prison on time. The report termed the incident a failure of intelligence agencies and demanded extensive investigation.
The escaped prisoners included 269 convicted, 89 under trial prisoners (UTP), while 21 were awarded death sentence.
KPK Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said that 20 high profile prisoners, including Adnan Rasheed who was involved in an attack on former President Gen Pervez Musharraf, were among the 384 prisoners who fled the Bannu prison after the attack.
Some of the prisoners who were later arrested said that Adnan Rasheed had been keeping a mobile phone and was in close contact with the militants who attacked the jail.
Similarly, other key prisoners, including Taliban commander Nooruddin, were in regular contact with the attackers over the phone and guided them from inside their barracks.
The report further said that 93 personnel were put on duty on the particular night but of them 63 were absent and there were only 30 present. Of them only ten were armed.
Of the 20 officials of Frontier Reserve Police in the jail, 14 were absent.
Sources and eyewitnesses said that security personnel of the prison, the local police and other security forces deployed in the area didn’t offer stiff resistance to counter the terrorist attack.
The attackers also set on fire the jail record during this period. Jail authorities complained that the forces arrived at the prison in the morning when the attackers had already escaped towards the adjacent tribal areas.