Zee News : Musharraf seeks report on terror suspect Rauf`s escape

Musharraf seeks report on terror suspect Rauf`s escape

December 17, 2007

Islamabad, Dec 17: President Pervez Musharraf has sought a report on the escape of terror suspect Rashid Rauf after details of police lapses that emerged on Monday caused major embarrassment to the Pakistan government.

The police are hunting for Rauf, who escaped on Saturday after his two police guards reportedly allowed him to go into a mosque for prayers while being driven back to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in a private car.

Some reports suggested that the car was being driven by Rauf's uncle Muhammad Rafiq, who accompanied him into the mosque and disappeared along with him.

Musharraf spoke to caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan and sought a detailed report on the escape.

Khan said a high-level committee is already probing the matter and a report will be submitted by Tuesday, officials said.

The president said action should be initiated against any police official found to be involved in the matter.

The police have questioned Rauf's kin at Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Federal Investigation Agency is keeping a watch on exit points across the country.

Rauf has been linked to al Qaeda and is married to a relative of Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar.

Rauf, a Briton of Pakistan origin, was arrested at Bhawalpur in Pakistan in August last year for allegedly being linked to a terrorist plot to bomb airliners going from Britain to the US. A Pakistani court later dropped terrorism charges against him but he was accused of possessing bomb-making materials and fake travel and identity documents.

News reports said the two policemen assigned to guard Rauf, Constables Wazirzada and Muhammad Tufail, allowed him to travel from Islamabad, where he had been brought to appear in a court, to the jail in Rawalpindi in a private car.

Terror suspect Rauf asked the policemen to let him stop at a restaurant where his uncle bought food for all of them. Rauf then asked to be allowed to offer afternoon prayers at a mosque and fled along with his uncle.

The policemen waited in the car when Rauf entered the mosque. Some reports said the policemen even removed his handcuffs to allow him to pray and officials said this was an act of "sheer negligence".

A police team led by Islamabad's SSP Syed Kaleem Imam is now questioning the two constables, who were arrested. The constables said they waited for Rauf for about 20 minutes.

Constable Tufail went into the mosque when he did not return, only to find that Rauf had escaped through the back door. An officer engaged in the investigation told The News daily that a "high profile suspect" like Rauf should always be "escorted by heavily guarded police vehicles".

Surprisingly, senior officials were alerted two-and-half hours after the escape and no message was sent out on the police wireless network.

Though an anti-terrorism court dropped terrorism charges against Rauf, a higher court in Lahore suspended the ruling until January 15, 2008 in response to an appeal by authorities. The Pakistan government was also considering a request from Britain for Rauf's extradition.

The British High Commission sought information on Rauf's escape and Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said he had talked to the British High Commissioner and "apprised him on the issue".

Shah said Rauf was still in the country and authorities would keep an eye on land routes, "especially those leading to Afghanistan because it might be possible that he would try to escape to Afghanistan through tribal areas".

However, members of Rauf's family and his lawyer Hashmat Habib termed the matter a "mysterious disappearance".

The News : Rauf’s escape shrouded in mystery

Rauf’s escape shrouded in mystery

By Shakeel Anjum | December 17, 2007

ISLAMABAD: A pattern of extreme irresponsibility and dereliction of duty emerged on Sunday as details came to light of how terror suspect Rashid Rauf managed to escape from police custody on Saturday, although Islamabad police had been warned in writing that he was a hardened criminal and required extra security.

Sources revealed to The News that Rauf had been allowed by the two cops who were taking him back to jail from the court to go for prayers inside a mosque with his handcuffs on while the cops agreed to wait for him in a private car. He escaped from the mosque with his handcuffs on.

It is also learnt that a warning letter was sent to the capital police by the superintendent district jail to tighten security of the high profile British national of Pakistani origin, as he was a hardened criminal, Adiala jail sources told The News.

The letter, dispatched in the second week of December, was addressed to SP (Headquarters) as well as a DSP of the police headquarters responsible for deploying duties,the sources said, and added that the authorities, taking it as a routine letter, marked it to the higher authorities without taking any measures to beef up Rauf’s security.

Rashid Rauf, allegedly involved in a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners in Britain, escaped from police custody inexplicably on Saturday evening while going back to jail after his production before a court of law.

A team under the direct supervision of SSP Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam, was investigating the case and working on different tracks and questioning two policemen, Constables Wazirzada and Muhammad Tufail, who were taking him to jail, the sources said.

The detained cops told the investigating team that they were going to Adiala Jail with the suspect in a private cab with the consent of Inspector (Hawalaat) at about 3.00 pm. Rauf had his handcuffs on. As they reached Adiala Road, near Gulshan-e-Abad, the suspect said that he wanted to perform his prayers and asked the policemen to wait for him in the cab, the policemen said.They added that they kept waiting for him for about 20 minutes but he did not return. Constable Tufail went inside the mosque but Rauf had escaped, with his handcuffs, using the rear door, they maintained. ††††

“The authorities took the transportation of the suspect so non-seriously that only two cops were deputed to move him and that too in a private cab instead of a police mobile van,” an officer engaged in the investigation said.

“Apparently, Inspector (Hawalaat) is responsible for his escape because he is supposed to take the undertrial inmates from jail and send them back escorted by heavily guarded police vehicles,” the officer said.

But the case was absolutely different here, he said and added:†”Reserve Inspector (RI) headquarters sent the ‘special team’ comprising two constables to fetch the high profile suspect from jail by a private car instead of police van and to take him back to jail in the same way.”

“The police high-ups were informed about his escape about two-and-a-half hours after the incident,” the officer said. Astonishingly, no message was sent on the police wireless system alerting other stations, which is highly intriguing.

Rashid Rauf was arrested in August on a tip from British intelligence agencies and charged with possessing chemicals that could be used in making explosives and with carrying forged travel documents.

The prosecution later withdrew the case against him and held him accountable only for possessing bomb-making materials and living in Pakistan without valid documents. Later, a higher court ó acting on an appeal by the Pakistani authorities ó suspended the anti-terrorism court’s ruling until January 15, 2008. However, a court extended his detention until January 19 and the law enforcing agencies booked him under 3 MPO (maintenance of public order).

The official relating to the prosecution section said that Rashid Rauf had remained in jail awaiting a decision on a British extradition request. He said that he left the UK soon after his uncle was stabbed to death in 2002, and the British authorities had asked Pakistan to extradite him in connection with the murder inquiry.