New Delhi: An investigation is ongoing at the Haridwar district jail, where two prisoners, taking advantage of a Ramlila performance, managed to escape Friday using two ladders to scale a 25-foot wall of the prison. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to arrest the escapees.
One of the prisoners, Pankaj, who goes by one name, was arrested in 2017 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, while the other, Ram Kumar, is still under trial in a kidnapping and ransom case. A third prisoner, Chottu, was also part of the plan but failed to escape after one of the ladders fell, sources in the police said. Chottu is also under trial but it was not immediately known what he was accused of.
Six jail staffers, including jailer Pyare Lal, have been suspended for negligence.
Speaking to ThePrint, Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Parmendra Dobhal said, “An enquiry has been ordered. An investigation is on. The prisoners weren’t part of the play, they were just spectators. Taking advantage of the celebrations, they climbed the walls.”
Haridwar district magistrate Karmendra Singh, holding the prison administration responsible, told the media that the prisoners took advantage of both the event and the construction work that was going on in the jail.
“FIR has been registered, investigation is on. Departmental inquiry and magisterial investigation will be done,” said Singh.
Sources in the district police told ThePrint that the initial investigation into the jailbreak has revealed negligence on the part of the security on duty who were busy organising the Ramlila play being held on the occasion of Dussehra within the premises of the jail.
SSP Dobhal has formed an SIT, led by the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar), Jitendra Mehra, to rearrest the prisoners. “Teams are questioning their family members and their relatives. Their hideouts are being checked,” the SSP added.
Giving details on the jailbreak, a senior police officer told ThePrint, “Pankaj, Ram Kumar and Chottu planned to escape on the day of Ramila together. However, the third prisoner couldn’t manage to climb past the wall and fell to the ground.” The police were able to glean this information from CCTV footage. It was not immediately clear what condition Chottu was in.
According to sources in the district police, at around 8pm Friday night, the three prisoners got two ladders and propped them up on top of each other in order to climb past the tall walls of the prison.
“The three prisoners tied the ladders with a cloth and climbed them. The responsible security on duty are being questioned as well and action will be taken against them,” the officer quoted above said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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