Masood Azhar, the notorious leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, has reportedly shared a deeply unsettling confession about his past incarceration in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail. The terror chief admitted to orchestrating a sophisticated tunnel-digging escape plan that was painstakingly executed over several weeks. With tools smuggled in and the tunnel nearly complete, the terrorists were on the cusp of achieving their freedom.
However, the vigilant eyes of Indian intelligence thwarted the operation just hours before its scheduled execution. The immediate aftermath involved harsh punitive measures against Azhar and his co-conspirators. He described a deliberate strategy of physical and psychological torment, including the withholding of food and severe restrictions on bathroom access. Azhar also recounted facing aggressive interrogations by a ‘cruel’ officer, where he was verbally abused and pressured to reveal the source of the digging equipment while in chains.
Azhar’s illegal entry into India occurred in February 1994 via a fake Portuguese passport, with the aim of spreading militancy. His arrest later that year led to a five-year prison sentence, during which the escape attempt was conceived. His freedom was dramatically secured in December 1999 when Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked, and the government yielded to demands for his release along with two other terrorists. Soon after, Azhar founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group linked to significant terrorist acts against India, including the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. He remains a wanted terrorist, reportedly protected within Pakistan.