Chhattisgarh: 8 juveniles escape Mahasamund observation home; search underway

The incident comes just weeks after four inmates of a government-run ‘place of safety’ in Bilaspur allegedly strangled a watchman before escaping on July 13.

Eight juveniles escaped from a government-run observation home in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district in the early hours of Monday, prompting police to launch a search operation, officials said.

Representational image.

The boys, aged between 14 and 17 years, fled from the facility under the City Kotwali police station limits. According to officials, a police patrol inspected the observation home between 2am and 2.30am, and found everything in order. Hence, they believe the inmates would have escaped sometime after 3am.

There were 27 juveniles in the observation home at the time of the incident, and a watchman and a house father were on night duty.

Observation home superintendent Aparna Srivastava said the escapees include two juveniles each from Saraipali in Mahasamund district and Kalahandi in neighbouring Odisha, and one each from Mahasamund town, Fingeshwar in Gariaband district, Balodabazar-Bhatapara district and Kurud in Dhamtari district.

“Three of the juveniles were lodged in connection with Excise Act offences, two in theft cases, and one each in cases related to rape and narcotics,” she said.

Preliminary findings suggest the boys escaped after removing the iron bars from a window, Srivastava said.

The incident comes weeks after four inmates of a government-run ‘place of safety’ in Bilaspur allegedly strangled a watchman before escaping on July 13. Earlier, on June 23, eleven juveniles escaped from an observation home in Surguja district after taking advantage of heavy rain and a power outage.