The last of the six prisoners who escaped from the Jowai district jail in Meghalaya on Saturday was caught and handed over to police by villagers of Barato area on Tuesday, two days after four other jail escapees were lynched by a mob.
Rikmenlang Lamare, who escaped from the Jowai District Jail along with five others, was apprehended by members of the Hynniewtrep Indigenous Territorial Organisation (HITO), an emerging pressure group, and volunteers of the Village Defence Party (VDP) of Chiabnai village.
“The last Prison escapee viz Rikmenlang Lamare (UTP) of Barato village was detected and detained by Barato villagers and handed over to us unharmed,” West Jaintia Hills superintendent of police (SP) B.K. Marak told HT over phone.
The prisoner is being transported to Jowai, the SP said. He also lauded the efforts of the local community of Barato area in successfully catching the prisoner.
Also Read |Meghalaya villagers nab jailbreaker who escaped lynching, hand him over to cops
Chiabnai village in Barato area is located 125 km from the state capital, Shillong.
{{/usCountry}}Chiabnai village in Barato area is located 125 km from the state capital, Shillong.
{{/usCountry}}“I received a phone call about the whereabouts of the escaped criminal, after which I immediately alerted our members who rushed to the location and caught him,” said HITO president Resto Sten.
“We thought he would resist but seeing that we were not going to let him escape this time, he tamely surrendered. The credit goes to all the law-abiding citizens here,” he added.
Also Read | Day after breaking out of prison, four lynched in Meghalaya
On September 10, six prisoners who were involved in abduction, murder and other crimes stabbed a prison guard and overpowered other jail staff to effect a jail break in Jowai, West Jaintia Hills. The six included 5 undertrial prisoners (UTPs) and a convicted murderer serving rigorous imprisonment.
Also Read | Six escape from Meghalaya’s Jowai prison; Second jailbreak in 3 months
Marsanki Tariang, the murder convict, and three undertrial prisoners-- I Love You Talang, Lodestar Tang and Shidorki Dkhar-- were apprehended and subsequently lynched by a frenzied mob in Thadmoothlong-Shangpung village the next day.
The fifth escapee, Ramesh Dkhar, a UTP undergoing a double murder trial, was successfully apprehended and handed over to the police by a group of people in Shangpung village on Monday.
The SP said a suo-moto case against the lynching incident has been registered yon Monday in Jowai police station.