E-Paper
Ludhiana: Jail inmates dig a hole in loo wall, try to escape, caught
Authorities at Ludhiana Central Jail foiled a jailbreak attempt after two inmates dug a hole in the bathroom wall. The inmates were planning to escape by scaling the compound wall but were caught by jail officials. An FIR has been lodged against the inmates who are facing trial in separate theft and snatching cases. This incident follows previous jailbreak attempts at the same facility.
The authorities of the Ludhiana Central Jail foiled a jailbreak attempt after two inmates dug a hole in the wall of the bathroom. The inmates were planning to escape from the prison after scaling the compound wall. However, the jail officials noticed the hole in the wall and foiled the bid.
Following the information provided by the jail officials, the Division number 7 police lodged an FIR against two inmates, Prem Chand alias Mithun and Sarab alias Bakru. The accused are facing trial in two separate cases of theft and snatching lodged against them by Gurdaspur police and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) police.
The FIR has been lodged following the statement of assistant jail superintendent Surinderpal Singh. He stated that during a special checking they found a hole dug in the wall of the bathroom of NB Barrack number 5 by removing bricks. He immediately informed the senior officials and wrote to the police to lodge an FIR.
The jail officials suspected that the accused were planning a jailbreak. The bathroom is near the compound wall. They were planning to escape from the jail after scaling the compound wall which is on the rear side of the bathroom.
Shivraj Singh Nandgarh, superintendent at Ludhiana Central Jail, said that they came to know about it on Sunday morning when the inmates were brought out from their barrack. They found some loose bricks in the wall, which were placed back in its place after removing one.
He added that a total of 150 inmates were lodged in the barracks. The jail officials questioned them and the names of two accused popped up. It is yet to be ascertained which tool the inmates had used in digging the hole.
Sub-inspector Janak Raj, who is investigating the case, said that an FIR under section 52-A of Prison Act, section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, has been lodged against the accused at Division number 7 police station. The police will bring the inmates on a production warrant for questioning.
The Ludhiana jail had hit the headlines recently after the arrest of two assistant superintendents. On January 23, the Division number 7 police had arrested two jail superintendents and 10 other accused, including jail inmates and their kin. According to the police, the kin of the inmates used to handover mobile phones and contraband to assistant jail superintendents Gagandeep Sharma and Satnam Singh, who further supplied the same to inmates in exchange for money.
Earlier jailbreak incidents
On May 6, 2023, taking advantage of security lapses in the Ludhiana Central Jail, an undertrial escaped through an under-construction watchtower of the prison. The inmate had returned from the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) court after hearing of a case.
On May 11, 2020, a jailbreak attempt by three inmates at the Ludhiana central jail had gone awry when one of them suffered injuries while scaling the wall.
On March 28, 2020, four inmates had escaped from Ludhiana central jail after scaling the compound wall in the wee hours. The jail authorities came to know about the jailbreak in the morning during daily attendance.
