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Jail break attempt foiled in Srinagar

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) foiled a jail break attempt in Srinagar following timely detection of a tunnel on Tuesday. One Pakistani militant, identified as Sajad Ali, died in the subsequent stone pelting by jail inmates and CRPF baton-charge.

A senior police officer said eleven Pakistani undertrials tried to escape from the high-security Kot Balwal jail after digging an eight-feet-deep and 70-ft-long tunnel. The militants had managed to dig the tunnel well beyond the outer jail wall. They were busy in making the big hole beyond the outer wall to escape, when a routine patrol detected the activity.

When the CRPF jawans opened barrack no 12 they found three Pakistanis busy digging what would have been their exit to freedom. The undertrials had managed to take electric fans inside the tunnel to keep them cool while digging.

The detection of the tunnel triggered tension inside the barracks and some inmates indulged in stone pelting on a CRPF unit resulting in injuries to six jawans. The CRPF then retaliated with baton charge. One inmate, a Pakistani, received serious head injuries and died while being taken to a nearby hospital.

Reinforcements were rushed to the jail immediately.

Earlier this year, three top Pakistani militants, including the main accussed in the Jammu stadium blasts, had managed to escape from the same jail.

After the jail break the prison's administration was handed over to the Prisons Department and the CRPF was given charge of its security.

Security has been further tightened inside the Kot Balwal jail now.

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