Taking strong exception to the Bannu Jail attack, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Monday ordered removal of four senior officers and a detailed enquiry into the incident.
The four officers removed from their posts and made officers on special duty included Commissioner Abdullah Khan Mahsud, Inspector General Prison Arshad Majid Mohmand, Deputy Inspector General Muhammad Iftikhar Khan and Bannu Jail Deputy Superintendent Muhammad Zahid Khan.
In accordance with the chief minister’s directives, a three-member enquiry team was also formed that comprised Dr Ataul Haq, Mushtaq Jadoon and Syed Almgir Shah.
The additional inspector general police (investigation) and the inspector general (prison) will work as officio-members with the investigating body.
“Attack and escape of 384 prisoners from Bannu Jail is not only ample proof of inefficiency on the part of the quarters concerned but it has also caused a sense of insecurity amongst the people,” provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said at a news conference.
He said simultaneous attacks by militants in Kabul and Bannu was not only surprising but put a big question to the main stakeholders or partners in the ongoing war on terror.
In response to a question, Interior Secretary Azam Khan confirmed that so far 66 prisoners had returned or had been rearrested. He said efforts for netting out the remaining escaped prisoners were underway.
He said that the government had completed the enquiry into the escape of notorious militant commanders, Nadeem Abbass and Zakim Afridi from Peshawar Central Jail after killing three policemen in August 2011.
Meanwhile, the provincial home ministry dispatched a preliminary inquiry report into the attack to the Interior Ministry, describing it an intelligence failure.
According to the report, 150 attackers on 50 vehicles stormed the central jail.
The report said of the 378 prisoners who fled the jail, 269 were convicts and 89 were still under-trial. There were five women among the prisoners who escaped, the report said.
The report noted that 30 policemen, including 10 armed personnel were present while 63 were absent from duty at the time of the attack.
It said mobile phones were also being used by inmates without any check by jail authorities.
