Six escape from Meghalaya’s Jowai prison; Second jailbreak in 3 months

The six prisoners-- five undertrials and one murder convict-- assaulted a guard and overpowered other jail staff before escaping on Saturday afternoon

Six prisoners assaulted a guard and overpowered other staff to effect a jail break in Jowai, West Jaintia Hills, in Meghalaya late Saturday afternoon, officials said. Five of them are undertrial prisoners and one is a convicted murderer serving rigorous imprisonment.

The escaped prisoners include I Love You Talang, Ramesh Dkhar, Rikamenlang Lamare, Shidorki Dkhar, Lodestar Tang and Marsanki Tariang. (Sourced)

“Our officers and men are all over and we are leaving no stone unturned to catch them,” said West Jaintia Hills superintendent of police (SP)  BK Marak. Speaking to HT over phone, he said, “We already have a suspect in custody who is presently undergoing intense interview by our officers.”

A jail official from Jowai said the incident occurred at 1.30pm when the warden opened the inside gate to allow the jail staff to enter. The criminals who were hiding nearby, easily overpowered the warden and later rushed to the main gate and assaulted the guard who fired in the air to prevent the jail break, the official added. The guard was injured in the melee.

An official police statement said that four prison staff and a policeman (guard) were attacked by the prisoners. A prison staff and a policeman were hospitalised, the official said adding that following an inquiry suitable action will be taken for the lapses.

I Love You Talang and Ramesh were arrested in twin murder cases of tourist taxi drivers- Damehipaia Papeng and Fullmoon Kharsahnoh in August in Jowai.

This is the second jailbreak from the same facility in three months. Earlier on June 22, “gross negligence” of the driver of an ambulance at Jowai prison led to the escape of a convicted prisoner Shiningstar Pala. Later, the driver was suspended.

Pala’s freedom was short lived when his family handed him over to the police after he showed himself outside the front door of his house in Shillong.