Army takes position in Hyderabad prison amid fear of jailbreak

HYDERABAD: There are high value targets (HVTs) within the Hyderabad Central Prison and attempts could be made to get certain inmates freed. This was stated by Hyderabad SSP Irfan Baloch while speaking at a press conference in his office here on Sunday.
The SSP said that jailbreak was feared in view of the recent hanging of convicted terrorists at various prisons in the country. “That’s why, the army has taken over security of prisons, including the Hyderabad Central Prison,” he said.
He said an intensive joint patrolling by the army, Rangers and police personnel had been started. The Rangers were supposed to primarily respond first to an untoward incidents relating to the threat to the prison and inmates, he added.
The SSP said that security in and around the jail had been beefed up and army personnel had taken positions within the prison.
“Round-the-clock patrolling by the joint force and a multiple-layer security have been ensured with police serving in the last cordon on the outer area of the prison and its periphery,” he said.
According to him, a Rangers official has been designated for coordination among all three forces at different levels.
He said that sweep and search operation would be conducted to purge areas of illegal immigrants, especially Afghans, for which a study was being conducted.
“Trends indicate that Mehsud, Swati and Mohmand tribesmen from other parts of the country always stay with their respective community members here”, he said.
The police officer said that he would not make any definite statement about Taliban but like Karachi, Hyderabad was an equally important city which needed an elite police force while the regular police needed sophisticated weapons.
He said that out of 3,500 personnel at the disposal of the Hyderabad range, only 900 were deployed at police stations and the remaining force was engaged personal security of VIPs, judges, courts, banks, doctors, etc. “It is due to this kind of security cover that the larger section of society gets no security,” he said.