Jailbreak bid: ‘All blasts accused wanted to flee to Pak, Bangladesh’

The 2008 blasts accused arrested in connection with the failed jailbreak attempt have reportedly told the Detection of Crime Branch that all the 68 blasts accused lodged at the Sabarmati jail wanted to flee to Pakistan and Bangladesh after escaping from the prison through a tunnel.

Crime branch officials said the accused had panned it long back to create an escape route from the jail.

Recently, it was found that the tunnel, which initially appeared to be 26-foot long, was actually 217-foot long.

The crime branch, which had earlier said that Usman Agarbattiwala was the mastermind of the escape plan, has now named blast accused Hafiz Hussain Mulla, a civil engineer from Karnataka, as the prime suspect in the tunnel digging case. Hafiz had allegedly used a map to design the tunnel that would have helped the accused to move to the backside of the jail, police said.

They added that Hafiz had hatched the plan with his close aides P A Shibli and Shahduli to call all the 68 blast accused to Chota Chakkar area where they were lodged and then escape together. Fourteen of the 68 accused were lodged in Chota Chakkar area where the tunnel was dug.

According to crime branch officials, the tunnel had several turns and there was enough space for a human to pass through it. The mud taken out of the tunnel was used in garden area where other jail inmates worked.

Hafiz reportedly told investigators that they used a long pipe to breathe inside the tunnel during its digging. Police said forensic officials were yet to ascertain if this was possible.

They believe the accused could not have dug such a long tunnel without the know of jail guards or jail staff.

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