Malir jailbreak saga continues: more inmates escaped than initially thought

KARACHI: Not 216, but 225 prisoners escaped from District Jail Malir, claims new administration of Malir Jail. Earlier in June, after an earthquake hit Karachi, the Malir Jail administration brought prisoners out of their cells into open area, which led to the biggest jailbreak in Pakistan’s history.

Initial reports said that at least 210 prisoners had escaped during the commotion, which was later revised to 216 escaped inmates.

However, now after the new management conducted re-counting after taking over control, it has been revealed that 10 more prisoners are missing, according to Malir Jail Superintendent Shahabuddin Siddiqui.

This information was revealed by Superintendent Siddiqui in a letter to Superintendent Police (SP) Investigation. Shahabuddin Siddiqui took charge of Malir Jail as Superintendent on June 4. In his letter, he said that while the former jail administration had reported the escape of 216 prisoners, a complete check-up of prisoners conducted during the Eid holidays shows that 10 more prisoners are missing from the jail premises.

The absence of 10 prisoners was not disclosed in the initial report, the letter notes. As per latest reports, 146 prisoners have been re-arrested so far, while 79 prisoners are still missing.

Moreover, one prisoner’s name was put on the escape list twice. After the re-checking of the list and prison records, the revised total number of escaped prisoners is 225, Superintendent’s letter said.

He has also shared names, addresses and other details of the 10 additional missing prisoners in the letter, along with a request to take action to arrest escaped prisoners.

Also read: Malir jail: 126 escaped prisoners re-arrested, 90 still at large