News of prisoners escaping from jail always raises alarm and questions, but a recent escape from a Pakistani jail represents a bizarre situation. A kidnapping suspect was taken for a shopping trip to Karachi’s Tariq Road by the police and escaped on a rickshaw carrying shopping bags full of purchased products, according to CCTV footage.

Zohaib Qureshi escaped from police custody after being produced in court in the kidnapping case of a girl named Dua Mangi. Zohaib Qureshi and Muzaffar alias Mozi was arrested on March 18, 2020. Ghulam Nabi Memon, the former additional inspector-general of Karachi Police had then claimed that the two were involved in the kidnapping of girls named Dua Mangai and Bismah Saleem. The girls were released after a huge ransom was paid. Getting a hold of the accused, he says, had been a major challenge for the police for three years.

ASI Naveed, the court police officer and Habib, a police constable, were arrested after the incident. They were responsible for escorting the accused from the jail. Constable Habib took the other prisoners to the jail in a prisoner’s van while ASI Naveed said that Zohaib Qureshi was “taken for shopping as he had to buy necessary items for himself”. Investigation further revealed that this was the second time that the accused had been “taken for a shopping trip”.

SP Hussain, in charge of Investigation Wing in District East, claims that the accused came in a private vehicle. He said another vehicle was used for the escape. However, the police have been unable to substantiate their claims. The statements of various officials so far have been inconsistent.

Prior to this as well, there have been incidents of prisoners escaping in Karachi merely due to security negligence. In January 2013, an Indian prisoner, Kishore Bhagwan Bhai, escaped from Landhi Jail. The prisoner pretended to be one of the labourers engaged in farming chores and simply walked out. The Police Department later recaptured him from the railway station after a pursuit spanning eleven months.

A former superintendent of jail police says that after such incidents, the police face a lot of embarrassment. Arrests are the culmination of months of hard work. He says one of the reasons that prisoners are able to escape in Pakistan is that there are no prisoner uniforms. This makes it difficult for people to identify them. Both under-trial prisoners and convicts must be dressed in a way that helps identify them so that they don’t escape so easily. 

Similarly, when Sheikh Mumtaz alias Firon and Ahmed Khan alias Munna, most-wanted terrorists belonging to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi escaped from the judicial complex attached to Central Jail, the investigation revealed that another accused, arrested in the airport attack case, had provided a blade to the fleeing terrorists enabling them to cut away the prison bars. The fleeing prisoners shaved their heads to change their appearance and the prison security simply let them pass amid ongoing construction work in the jail building and movement of labourers.

A former superintendent of jail police says that after such incidents, the police face a lot of embarrassment. Arrests are the culmination of months of hard work. He says one of the reasons that prisoners are able to escape in Pakistan is that there are no prisoner uniforms. This makes it difficult for people to identify them. Both under-trial prisoners and convicts must be dressed in a way that helps identify them so that they don’t escape so easily, agrees Arif Nizamani, a former DIG of jail. He adds that the responsibility for prisoner’s security rests with the court police who take the prisoners to a hospital when needed or to a court.

“They are not allowed to take the prisoner for shopping, to meet his wife or to go for a walk. If a prisoner needs something, the superintendent of the relevant jail can provide him that. People who come to see the prisoner are also allowed to bring some items but he certainly does not have the freedom to go shopping,” he says.

Arif Nizamani, referring to the issue of prison reform, says that suggestions have been sent to the government several times but they have not been implemented. The number of personnel is also very low.

“The police force in the jail has been reduced since 2013 when it should have been increased. In many countries prison management is separate from security. In Pakistan we have only prison management”, he says. He adds that a jail complex should be set up as soon as possible in Karcahi. He also suggests trial courts should be located nearby, so that in addition to preventing prisoners from escaping, travelling costs are reduced.

The writer is a    journalist specialising in reporting crime in Karachi