ISLAMABAD-
Khyber Pakhtunkhawa(KP) government fears Dr. Shakeel Afridi – jailed in Peshawar’s Central prison- and known for assisting Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to track down Osama Bin Laden by running a fake vaccination campaign, maybe rescued or killed through a ‘covert or overt operation’, private media reported.
According to a letter written by KP government to the federal government, there exists a severe danger that Dr Afridi could either be killed by his opponents or taken away by supporting powers.
“Focus of all the international media and superpowers is on him [Afridi] due to his suspicious role in Osama operation –plans to either kill him by his adversaries or his supporters [or] to rescue him through overt or covert operations have been hatched,” reads a letter by KP’s home department reported by local newspaper ‘Express Tribune’.
The letter is written to the KP chief minister, inspector general of police, ministries of defence, interior, states and frontier region and chief secretary of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Giving reference of the intelligence reports, the letter claims that militants have planned to carry out an attack on the prison.
The letter also requests federal government that due to the security threats Dr. Afridi should either be moved to Attock Jail or any other prison, under the protection of Pakistan army or any other force.
“His [Afridi] further presence in the K-P prison has not only endangered other prisoners’ and staffs’ lives but also put at risk the adjoining police lines, session courts and civil secretariat. His further confinement in any prison cell of the K-P may be catastrophic,” the letter states.
Speaking to the local daily , a legal counselor from Afridi’ s legal team confirmed that his client’s life is in danger. He also demanded that Afridi should be shifted to a safe place.
“We also have fear of such covert or overt operation—Americans may be supporting some elements within us,” he said.
Former interior secretary Tasneem Noorani also supported the demand of KP government, calling it reasonable. He said that such incident can happen in ‘jailbreak’. He further explained that the supporters of Afridi could be those elements who work for US in the region.
Dr Afridi is currently facing imprisonment under Frontier Crimes Regulation and is confined in the Central Prison Peshawar.
