Pakistan airport ‘security’ rapped


Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry reprimanded airport security agencies Friday after a wealthy murder suspect managed to flee abroad, warning that lax procedures could allow terrorists to escape.

Chaudhry is investigating how Shahrukh Jatoi, 20, managed to fly to the United Arab Emirates from Karachi, without any record of his departure despite an alert for his arrest.

He is the chief suspect in the December murder of 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan, the son of a senior police officer who was shot dead in Karachi.

Jatoi returned to Pakistan last month to face trial, but the Supreme Court is now calling for those who allowed him to board the plane to be punished.

“Two months have passed and nobody knows how Shahrukh Jatoi managed to escape. . . . If this is the state of affairs of security agencies at airports, then tomorrow, terrorists might escape after carrying out attacks,” said Chaudhry.