Gilgit (Pakistan), Aug 19: Authorities suspended 13 prison officials after two inmates escaped from a jail in Pakistan's remote north, officials said today. The two had been awaiting trial on theft charges.

They escaped last week from a jail in Chilas, 480 kilometers north of Islamabad, said Tahir Hussain, a Chilas police official. One of the fugitives has since been captured.

An investigation into the escape has been launched and would look at whether jail officials helped them, Hussain said. Security at prisons is often breached in Pakistan and rampant corruption among prison officials is blamed for some jailbreaks.

Last month, armed inmates at a maximum security prison in eastern Pakistan held several judges hostage. Three judges and five inmates were killed in a rescue operation by police commandos.

The judges were at the Sialkot Jail conducting an inspection.


As a result of that incident the Pakistani authorities dismissed the jail superintendent and nine other prison workers on allegations of negligence. Bureau Report