Two undertrial prisoners lodged in the district jail in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena escaped from the facility in the early hours of Monday, an official said.
Omprakash Jat (36), who is awaiting trial in a murder case, and Anil Rathore (26), an accused in a rape case, dug a hole into a closed cemented entry leading to a staircase to slip out.
Alarmingly, the jail authorities came to know about the incident only after a relative of Rathore came to meet him in the morning hours.
“We came to know about the jailbreak when a relative of Rathore came to meet him in the morning. We searched for the prisoner inside but couldn’t find him,” jailor BS Mourya said, adding that they found Rathore and Jat missing after taking a head count.
He said that in the head count taken on Sunday evening, the duo was found to be present, which meant they escaped apparently in the early hours of Monday.
Citing circumstantial evidence, Mourya said Jat and Rathore broke their way through the closed cemented entry to reach the staircase which opens into a small terrace located near the boundary wall of the jail and jumped out.
A complaint has been lodged with Kotwali police, following which a search is on to trace the duo.
“We are in the process of initiating action against chief warder Dattaram and three warders Ramavtar, Brijendra Singh and Phool Singh on duty during the jailbreak,” he added.
Incidentally, eight SIMI men awaiting trial had escaped from highly-fortified Bhopal Central Jail on Diwali night last year after killing a warder. They were subsequently killed in an alleged exchange of fire by police on the same day.
The prison authorities in the state have been claiming they have ramped up security since the Bhopal jailbreak.
Source: HindustanTimes