At least 10 more inmates, who fled during a jailbreak caused by an earthquake in the port city, have returned to the Landhi Jail in Malir district during the three-day Eid ul Adha holiday, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
In total, 213 inmates escaped from Karachi’s District Malir Jail when prison staff evacuated them due to the earthquake. The staff moved the inmates into the open courtyard for their safety, but the situation quickly spiraled out of control, enabling a significant number of inmates to flee.
According to Jail Superintendent Shahab Siddiqui, his team has rearrested some prisoners, while others have returned voluntarily.
The return of these inmates brings the total number of recaptured escapees to 149, with 66 still on the run, Siddiqui revealed.
Last week, prisoners from the two circles of Malir Jail, whom the staff had brought out due to continuous tremors, attacked security personnel.
The Frontier Corps personnel initially tried to stop the inmates with batons before resorting to aerial firing, but the inmates overpowered them, leading to their escape.
The chaos injured at least three FC personnel and one jail staffer, and a prisoner was killed in the incident. The inmates damaged the facility’s IT room servers and equipment and broke the doors.
Following the incident, police, Rangers, Frontier Corps, Special Security Unit (SSU), and Rapid Response Force (RRF) launched a joint operation to track down the escapees, and they immediately rearrested nearly 100 inmates.
Taking notice of the matter, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had removed the prisons inspector general (IG), prisons deputy IG and the then jail superintendent from their posts for the negligence that resulted in the “biggest” jailbreaks in years.