Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, a notorious orchestrator of terror attacks against India, has revealed a harrowing secret from his past. During his incarceration in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail, Azhar was reduced to a “broken man” due to a failed escape attempt. He confessed to digging a tunnel beneath the high-security prison with the intent of escaping, but Indian intelligence thwarted the plan just hours before its execution.
The mastermind behind numerous blood-soaked attacks admitted that tools were smuggled in, and weeks were spent meticulously excavating the passage. Freedom was reportedly days away when authorities discovered the underground tunnel. Following the discovery, Azhar claims he and his accomplices endured brutal punishment, including denial of food and restricted access to facilities, designed to break them psychologically and physically.
During intense interrogations, Azhar described being subjected to harsh questioning and verbal abuse by a “cruel” officer. He detailed being chained and repeatedly asked about the origin of the digging tools, admitting that the psychological trauma from these sessions still haunts him. Azhar’s journey to becoming a terror chief began when he entered India in 1994 using a fake passport to recruit militants. Arrested the same year, he was eventually released in 1999 in exchange for hostages from the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814. His subsequent founding of Jaish-e-Mohammed led to devastating attacks, including the 2001 Parliament assault and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.