Constable dead, another hurt as police laxity allows prisoners to escape

Lax security arrangements resulted in the death of a police constable and critical injuries to another as two prisoners being transported back from a court hearing managed to snatch one of the cops’ weapons, shoot them and escape in the Korangi Industrial Area police limits on Friday.  

The embarrassing prisoner escape unfolded on the Korangi EBM Causeway. As per details, three policemen – two police constables and a station investigation officer (SIO) of the KIA police – were bringing back two suspects – Muhammad Imtiaz and Abdul Malik, both accused of involvement in the September 20 murder of Head Constable Yousuf Lodhi – from an ATC hearing in the SIO’s private vehicle.

As they were driving along the causeway, the suspects – who officials confirmed were not handcuffed – opened fire in the car. In the shooting, PC Rafiq suffered injuries that later proved fatal while PC Daim remains under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. 

Sharing details, SSP Korangi Noman Siddiqui said one of the three cops escorting the prisoners, the SIO, had called in his missing weapon – a pistol that he kept concealed under his car’s driving seat – before they left the court premises.

“After the shooting and escape was reported, the SIO – who was unharmed in the melee – told us that the prisoners’ accomplices had intercepted their vehicle and taken away the men.

However, our investigations prove that the shooting was done with a pistol; most likely the SIO’s weapon that the suspects had managed to swipe from under the car seat,” said the SSP.

He added that since this was the third time that the prisoners were being transported to and from courts in the SIO’s car, it was possible that they knew where the weapon was hidden and capitalised on this major security lapse.

“The SIO has been detained for gross negligence and the IGP has ordered that a case of negligence on duty be registered against him,” said SSP Siddiqui.

The escapees, he said, have been involved in multiple cases of murder, drug peddling and street crimes, including the recent shooting of two brothers in Korangi in which one of the siblings, Babar, had died.

IGP vows no mercy 

Speaking to The News, an incensed Sindh IGP AD Khowaja termed the incident a cause of grave concern that had tainted the police’s efforts to improve the city’s security situation.   

Khowaja said he had issued strict directives to the city police chief, Mushtaq Mehar, to register an FIR against the SIO and to submit a detailed report of the incident at the earliest.

“This escape was only possible due to gross negligence on behalf of the SIO. I have ordered for strict action, including an FIR pertaining to negligence, to be registered against the SIO as he completely failed to follow the SOP in place,” said IGP Khowaja.

He added that orders were also issued to ensure that if any senior official is found to be at fault in this escape, strict disciplinary action should be taken against the officer irrespective of rank and seniority.

The Sindh CM has also taken notice and summoned a report.