|
Karachi central prison: A tinderbox of expanding militant networks
[Dawn] KARACHI: Even with increased outreach of hard boy networks from within Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... 's central prison, most search operations carried out inside the jail are done without scanners or metal detectors, the stated reason for which is primarily financial constraints and a "lack of response from the concerned department". This also explains the planning of the attack on Sindh High Court's Justice Maqbool Baqar from inside Karachi Central Jail and the subsequent recovery of a number of cell phones and other devices in the June 29 search operation led by Sindh Rangers. The operation established that the attack on Justice Baqar was indeed planned from inside the central prison and further revealed that security checks inside prison cells have largely remained lax. The central jail houses over 4,800 prisoners and the figure includes 200 key members from hard boy organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... , Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain and Jundallah which seem to be expanding their networks inside the prison. Militant networks mushroom, collaborate Speaking to Dawn.com regarding locked away Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! members of hard boy organizations, former Special Investigation Unit (SIU) chief, SP Khurram Waris, said the most dangerous among these were the ones associated with LJ and TTP. He said the two groups joined forces and have been operating in collaboration since the past one year in order to target high profile figures from different professions. Some of these prisoners include Mohammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori, Mufti Shahid and LJ's ameer in Pakistain, Attaur Rahman Bukhari -- all languishing in jail after being awarded death sentences. Waris said he had no doubt that the recent attack on Justice Baqar was planned from inside Karachi's central prison. "These people have a full-fledged network running from inside prisons; right from visitors bringing in 'messages' that can't be discussed on cell phones to finalising finances for attacks through cell phones that are somehow brought in. The foundations of most attacks are laid inside prison cells," Waris told Dawn.com. Cell phones and 'more' Such adept planning and organization as was seen in the attack on Justice Baqar does not seem to have been done via cell phones alone. Security officials from within the central prison have said that material seized during the June 29 operation included not only mobile phones but also laptops and internet devices. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... IG Prisons Nusrat Mangan continues to maintain his earlier statement that about six cell phones were seized during the "routine search operation" conducted by the paramilitary force. Neither Mangan nor the Rangers front man therefore confirmed that a number of laptops and internet devices were also seized from the barracks of a few prisoners. "The media reported a few things out of context which was not the case," Rangers front man Major Sibtain told Dawn.com. Posted by: Fred 2013-07-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=371648 |