Security of the Peshawar central jail has been put on high alert after a threat of possible attack by miscreants.
“In view of threats by militants, security of the jail has been put on high alert and commandos of police force have been deployed in and around it, jail officers said on Sunday.
The security of Maulana Sofi Muhammad, who is head of the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and father-in-law of the newly-elected Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Fazlullah, and Dr Shakeel Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA track down former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, have been handed over to police commandos, a jail officer, seeking anonymity, said.
Sofi Muhammad was arrested by security forces on July 26, 2009, for encouraging violence and terrorism and 12 cases were registered against him including Pakistan People’s Party MPA Badiuzzaman’s murder.
Keeping in view the possible attack on the jail, the police department changed the security plan and decided to deploy a large number of security personnel around the boundaries of the jail.
The newly-elected TTP chief has already refused to go ahead with peace talks with the government after the killing of his predecessor Hakimullah Mehsud. Mehsud was killed in the US drone strike in the Darpa Danday Khel area of Miranshah Town of North Waziristan on November 1, a day before the launching of formal peace talks.