Six cops arrested after Pak Taliban militants escape custody

Karachi: The mysterious escape of five undertrials including two militants of the Pakistani Taliban from the courts here this week has led to the suspension and arrest of six police officials of the CID.

The six officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) were sent on a two-day judicial remand by a magistrate today following their arrest after two militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ghulam Ishaq and Nazrab Khan managed to escape from the city courts yesterday. They escaped soon after a key witness picked them out from an identification parade in a case involving bomb blasts in Karachi`s Orangi Town. Police said the two prisoners had managed to unlock their handcuffs and flee. The two TTP men made their escape just two days after three prisoners accused of heinous crimes also escaped from an anti-terrorism court in the city. The three, Ammar, Zubair and Arsalan escaped by apparently breaking open a bathroom window in the court premises. CID SSP Chaudary Aslam said that these two incidents had alerted the force to rising cases of militants arrested for heinous crimes threatening police officials and lower officers during their trials. "We get threats on a routine basis and maybe some of our lower ranked officers are unable to take the pressure," Aslam said. Legal and anti-terrorism experts say that the delay in courts handing down judgments in cases involving militants involved in terrorism has led to a backlog of cases and police officials coming under pressure. PTI