LAHORE: At least 12 under-trial prisoners escaped from a lock-up at a court in the Punjab capital in the presence of police officials on Monday.

They managed to escape following a clash between two groups of prisoners when 166 prisoners from two jails arrested in various cases were brought to the districts courts in Model Town for hearing of their cases.

The prisoners started clashing with the police officials when they were brought out of the lock-up to control the situation, Lahore SSP (Operations) Mustansar Feroze told the media.

"They clashed with policemen ,threw stones at them and attacked them with chairs, tables and other objects," Feroze said.

A video of the incident showed the policemen were watching the whole incident helplessly.

Two out of the 12 prisoners who fled had been arrested, while a search operation was underway to arrest the others prisoners, he added.

SSP Lahore said that an internal inquiry will also be conducted to take disciplinary action against the police officers for showing negligence.

According to the police, the prisoners who fled were not facing serious cases such as that of murder or abduction, and most of them were being tried for robbery, snatching and illegal arms crimes.