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Punjab CM orders probe after 3 prisoners escape from Amritsar jail
The Punjab Police have launched a state-wide hunt for the three prisoners who escaped late Saturday night.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday ordered a magisterial inquiry by the Jalandhar Commissioner into the escape of three undertrial prisoners from Amritsar central jail, and has also directed the Jails Minister to immediately suspend, pending inquiry, all those responsible for prison security.
A state-wide hunt has been launched for the prisoners. The Chief Minister has also ordered ADGP Jails to revamp prison security in the wake of the incident, which came to light around 3.20 a.m., less than two hours after the prisoners are said have broken through their barrack before scaling the inner and outer walls of the jail to escape.
Taking serious note of the security lapse, the Captain Amarinder Singh said prison security would be reviewed and further strengthened, not just in this jail but in the others across the state too.
The prison guards were alerted about the escape by the other inmates, who included the brother of one of the escaped prisoners, according to initial reports. There was no evidence of outside help, according to preliminary investigations, which suggest that the trio, among 61 prisoners in Barrack no. 7, Ahata no. 2, had planned the escape on their own.
Punjab’s Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said the men apparently made a hole in the wall of their barrack by removing about 10 bricks. They then appear to have scaled the inner wall (about 16 feet high) by standing one atop the other, while the outer wall (21 feet approx.) was crossed by them using a hook made of a steel bar and the cover of a quilt to make a ladder. They finally escaped the jail complex from a point near Tower no. 10, which was not under CCTV cover.
The prisoners were identified as 22-year-old Vishal of Amritsar’s Majitha Road who had been in jail since April 2019 for sexually abusing a minor. The other two are brothers Gurpreet (34) and Jarnail (25) of Khadoor Sahib, Tarantarn. The two brothers were in jail for snatchings and dacoity.
Vishal’s brother Gaurav, also in the same barrack, chose not to flee with them, said the DGP.
