How did Ehsanullah Ehsan escape from Pakistan’s custody, questions Malala

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai questioned Tuesday as to how did the former Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan escape from Pakistan’s custody. “This is the ex-spokesperson of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan who claims responsibility for the attack on me and many innocent people,” said Malala after the former TTP spokesperson threatened her on Twitter. “He is now threatening people on social media,” said the Nobel laureate. “How did he escape @OfficialDGISPR @ImranKhanPTI?” Malala said this while replying to a tweet from Ehsan, who asked her and her father to return to her home in Swat, saying they still “owe a massive debt”. Ehsan was infamous for issuing chilling claims of carrying out TTP attacks, and has been linked to some of the country’s most bloody attacks. These include the bombing at a park in Lahore during Easter 2016, and the targeting of Malala Yousafzai. He surrendered to authorities in 2017 and later gave interviews to a Pakistani TV channel, leading to criticism and controversy that a terrorist was given airtime. It angered many in the country who believed he was being pampered by authorities after years of helping lead a violent insurgency. He mysteriously escaped from Pakistan’s custody in February 2020. In a presser in August 2020, Pakistani military spokesperson had confirmed to media that Ehsan escaped from custody during an operation. Dr Arslan Khalid, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s focal person on digital media, said, however, Ehsan’s account on Twitter was a fake one. “It’s a fake account @Malala and there is zero tolerance for extremism in Pakistan,” said Dr Khalid in a Twitter post.