SRINAGAR, FEB 2: A top militant leader of the pro-Pakistan Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM) whose release had been sought by hijackers of the Indian Airlines aircraft reportedly escaped from a government hospital here today. He had been taken there along with four other detainees for a medical check-up.JUM `Supreme Commander' Ghulam Rasool Shah, code-named Mohammad Ramzan Sofi alias General Abdullah, gave eight police guards the slip at SMHS hospital, an official spokesman said.However, the police claim to have foiled an attempt by another detainee, self-styled `District Commander' of Al-Burq Jameel Ahmad Syed, to escape along with Shah, catching him from the compound of the nearby medical college.But a JUM spokesman contacted news organisations in Srinagar soon after the ``escape'' and claimed that Shah ``had been taken to an unknown destination in a three-wheeler (from the hospital) and we apprehend that this drama of escape was enacted to eliminate him''.The police version is that Shah mingled withthe crowd at the SMHS hospital and fled in a waiting three-wheeler around 2.30 pm. A police spokesman also pointed out to PTI that detainees were not handcuffed while being taken to hospital.A resident of Kupwara, Shah is considered one of the pioneers of the armed struggle in Kashmir. He had been arrested by the security forces in 1997 from an STD booth in Gawkadal area of Srinagar and lodged in Srinagar Central Jail. He has served time before also, in the early '90s.All security and intelligence agencies have been alerted and a hunt has been launched for Shah. Security has also been beefed up at SMHS hospital and all incoming and outgoing visitors are being frisked.Meanwhile, Abdullah's escape has left many red faces in the State Police department. The local police and jail authorities are blaming each other for this major security lapse.The police has already arrested and suspended all the eight policemen escorting, the group of four militants including Abdullah, to SMHS hospital from SrinagarCentral Jail for check up.``It is entirely the mistake of the jail authorities, who did not inform us that such a big militant leader is to be taken to the hospital. Generally, they have to let the SSP know so that a special escort would have been arranged,'' Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, Dr A K Bhan told The Indian Express. ``The policemen did not even know whom they are escorting. He and another militant asked them to allow to go to toilet and then fled from there. One was nabbed while Abdullah managed to escape''. The police and the security forces have, however, plugged all the routes going out of the city and a massive operation is going on to nab the militant leader.When contacted in the evening, Additional Director General of Prisons J&K S S Ali said he did not have full details as yet. However, another officer in his department said that they were not responsible for any such lapse outside the four walls of the jail premises.
