Bangla inmates stage daring escape from Presidency jail
Two Bangladeshi prisoners escaped from the Presidency jail by climbing over the prison boundary wall early on Tuesday morning. They were identified as Mohammad Sabuj and Mohammad Ali Mollah.
Two Bangladeshi prisoners escaped from the Presidency jail by climbing over the prison boundary wall early on Tuesday morning. They were identified as Mohammad Sabuj and Mohammad Ali Mollah.
Both prisoners were undertrials lodged in ward numbers 21 and 22 of the jail. Sabuj and Mollah were entrusted with the task of cleaning toilets in the jail. On Tuesday, they could not be found after seven in the morning and the prison officials suspected that they might have climbed over the boundary wall and escaped. They were arrested on charges of illegally staying in India a few months back.
"Two Bangladeshi prisoners are missing. A lookout notice has been issued against them. I cannot comment any further on this issue," said Bhupendra Singh, warden of Presidency jail.
Generally, inmates are released from their cells at five in the morning and they have to report back to their cells at five in the evening. Cleaners usually get ropes, buckets and smaller instruments to perform their work.
"We are conducting an inquiry into the matter. I cannot comment on the issue before investigations are complete," said Radhe Shyam Sarkar, duty officer of Hastings police station, which is probing the incident.
Prison officials believe that the two undertrials might have misused the instruments allotted to them and they might have been hatching an escape plan for many days. Though it is largely believed that the prisoners escaped on their own or through external help, officials are not ruling out the chance of their being an inside hand.
Tuesday’s incident has once again put focus on the poor security measures in West Bengal's jails. Over the last four months more than 400 mobile phones were seized from Presidency, Alipore and Dum Dum central jails, along with a few other jails as well.