Jailbreak bid by five inmates foiled in Amritsar

Nearly three months after three undertrials escaped from the high-security Amritsar Central Jail in February, police foiled another jail-break bid from five inmates

Nearly three months after three undertrials escaped from the high-security Amritsar Central Jail in February, police foiled another jail-break bid from five inmates lodged in the same barrack (number 7) in the building on Wednesday morning.

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The five men had removed four bricks from the wall, when assistant jail superintendent Gurcharan Singh raided the barrack with a team.

“I got a tip-off that the accused were attempting to escape. I led a raid to barrack number 7. We found four bricks of the wall had been removed and the accused had also made a rope using blankets,” said Gurcharan.

He added a piece of an iron rod and two spoons, which had been sharpened to pry open the barrack’s walls had been recovered from the accused.

The two convicts are Prabhjit Singh (murder) and Jagjit Singh (NDPS Act), while three others are undertrials—Joga Singh (theft), Balkar Singh (NDPS Act) and Harjit Singh (murder).

A jail official, seeking anonymity, said the material used to build some barracks is of poor quality as in the February case, 10 bricks had been removed from the wall.

The five inmates have been booked under Sections 224 (obstruction to lawful apprehension), 225-B (obstruction to lawful apprehension, or escape or rescue in cases not otherwise provided for), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50), 511 (offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, and Section 52 of the Prisons Act.

Blurb

In February, three inmates had fled from the same barrack; police conducted a raid on a tip-off, even as four bricks had already been removed from the wall