Under-trial prisoners who escaped from police custody near Rawalpindi threw ground red chillies into the eyes of their escorting officers before fleeing from the prison van, according to a First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the police.
Incident Details
The escape occurred on June 29 at approximately 4:45 pm when the prison van was transporting 36 under-trial prisoners from Kahuta courts to Adiala jail. Sub Inspector Imtiaz Ahmed, in-charge guard of the van, stated in the FIR that as the van reached near Chakiyan stop on Kahuta Road, the prisoners began fighting and making noise inside the van.
“We tried to stop them from fighting verbally but they did not listen to us. I asked Head Constable Tahir Mehmood to open the door of the prison van. We went inside the van to dissuade them from fighting. In the meantime, they threw red chillies in our eyes and started escaping from the van,” Imtiaz reported.
Escape and Rearrests
According to the FIR lodged by SI Niaz Ali, 14 prisoners initially managed to escape. Four of them were later re-arrested by police. The escaped prisoners were identified as Asim Haleem (narcotics case), Abdul Wahab (armed robbery), Ehtisham Shah (rioting), Adeel Abbas (armed robbery), Shamim Rehmat (murder), Danish Shabeer (murder), Asad Rehman (armed robbery), Abdul Rehman (murder), Wahid alias Wahidi (murder), Shahmir Liaquat (attempted murder), Zikriya alias Zaki (murder), Atif Zahid (murder), Saim Ishtiaq (murder), and Waleed (murder). The four re-arrested prisoners were Saim Ishtiaq, Atif, Zikriya, and Waleed Arif.
The escorting team pointed their arms at the prisoners, locked the van door, and began chasing the escapees. They also made an emergency call to police helpline 15 to report the incident. The remaining 22 prisoners in the van were safely escorted to Adiala jail.
Legal Proceedings
The FIR was registered under sections 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to their lawful apprehension), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duty), 186 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of public functions), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention), and 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The escorting police officials were charged under section 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by a public servant) of the PPC and Sections 155-C (guilty of any wilful breach or neglect of any provision of law) and 155-D (guilty of any violation of duty) of the Police Ordinance, 2002. Sihala police took the escort team of Adiala jail guard into custody and started investigations.
