5 escape from Buxar Central Jail, 3 cops suspended

Patna: Five convicts, including four serving life terms, escaped from the Buxar Central Jail late Friday night by scaling the prison wall, raising questions over security of jails and prompting the administration to suspend three officials. District Magistrate Raman Kumar said today that the jailbreak took place between midnight and 3 am. A manhunt is undwerway to nab the convicts.

The district administration said a dhoti, rods and pipes were recovered near the wall from where they escaped late on Friday night. The incident is being seen as a major breach in security. The Home secretary of state Amir Subhani has ordered a high-level probe into the incident.

According to officials here, a two-member team has been constituted to probe the matter. On Saturday, the jail administration suspended three jail wardens for lapses in security and dereliction of duty.

“Four of the inmates, who escaped jail were serving life terms and one of them was convicted for ten years,” Buxar SP Upendra Sharma said.

The entire area has been cordoned off and an alert has been sounded in neighbouring districts to nab the prisoners, but no progress in the case has been reported so far. Sources from Buxar informed this newspaper that the incident occurred in less than 24 hours after the jail was extensively raided by the district administration.

A similar incident had occurred a few days ago in Bhopal where Simi terrorists had fled jail and were later killed in an encounter by the police. Sources said, “Five prisoners, who escaped Buxar jail Friday night were hardened and dreaded criminals.”