Russian inmates kill jail official in Pakistan prison

KARACHI: Three Russian inmates in a prison at Pakistan’s shipbreaking coastal city of Gaddani killed a female jail official last night, officials told Arab News on Tuesday.
“The Russian women who were shifted to the prison from Quetta to provide easy counselor access to their country’s diplomatic mission in Karachi killed warden Zoya Bint-e-Yahya Imrani for her religious beliefs,” police officer, Naveed Alam, said while ruling out any attempt of jailbreak.
The accused women were identified as Khadija Bint-e-Abdullah, Zainab and Ayesha Bint-e-Musa.
Police have registered a case against them under section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and kicked off investigations.
Sharing their preliminary findings, Alam said the inmates had religious differences with the warden and thought the jail official was “an infidel.”
Gaddani, which lies some 50 kilometers west of Karachi, is a coastal city in southwestern Balochistan province with the world’s third largest shipbreaking yard.
Rehmatullah, the official investigating the case, said Imrani was deployed at the prison barrack of Russian inmates and was strangled at night while she was sleeping.
The facility currently has 11 female inmates: Five of them belong to Russia, one hails from Chechnya, and the rest are Pakistani citizens.
“These women along a teenage boy were arrested last year for illegally entering Pakistan. They were later shifted to Gaddani prison from Quetta’s district jail for easy counselor access,” said the police officer.
Imrani, a resident of Gaddani, had been working as lady warden at the facility since 2017.
“She was the sole breadwinner of her family that included an ailing father and two young brothers,” the official added.