New Delhi, February 9

Taking a serious note of the escape of a jailed Pakistani terrorist, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today shot off a directive to the state government to fully review security measures in place in jails and transportation of inmates.

Suggesting that the state government should consider deploying CRPF in prison security, the MHA has also asked it to ensure that such incidents do not take place in future.

A senior MHA official said, “Taking a serious note of the incident, we have advised the J&K Government to fully review security measures and take action to prevent such incidents in future.”

The official said a decision in this regard was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh following the escape of Naveed Jatt, a Pakistani terrorist who was lodged in the Srinagar Central Jail. He fled a city hospital after some militants shot and killed two policemen accompanying him. He was taken to the hospital for check-up, said the official.

Listing the specific measures the Centre wanted the J&K Government to take, the official said the state should develop a mechanism to fix the responsibility for the lapses and examine why a high-security prisoner was sent to the OPD of a hospital.

The official said the state government had also been issued instructions to immediately review the security of hardened terrorists lodged in the Srinagar Central Jail. At present, 16 Pakistani prisoners are lodged in the Srinagar jail and four have been shifted to another prison. Discussions are on to shift the others.

Another official said the Jammu and Kashmir Government had assured the Centre of taking necessary steps and reviewing the entire jail security.

Courtsey: Tribune