At least 19 prisoners escaped in a major jailbreak in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday, prompting security authorities to launch a manhunt.
The incident occurred in the Rawlakot district where inmates overpowered the jail security personnel and escaped, while one of the escapees who got injured during the gunfire, succumbed to injuries at the hospital, city police chief Riaz Mughal told reporters.
He said a manhunt has been launched to recapture the prisoners, and all entry and exit points of the area have been sealed.
The escapees include six death row prisoners.
At least eight prison personnel have been arrested for "negligence," while the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in a late-night development, removed Home Secretary Badar Munir from his office.
An inquiry into the incident has also been launched.
The escape was reportedly led by Ghazi Shahzad, a little-known politician from the Sudhnoti district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir who had taken part in recent regional elections but lost. A few months ago, he had announced joining a militant group.
He was detained along with three colleagues last year under the maintenance of public ordinance that allows the government to arrest a person who can be a threat to law and order.
His three colleagues, however, did not escape. Another accused allegedly involved in the murder of a leader of the outlawed Jamat-ud- Dawa'h militant group in the northeastern Sialkot district of Pakistan last year, also did not escape.
