Six inmates escaped from the juvenile home and rehabilitation centre at Shimlapuri late on Saturday night after thrashing guards and taking them hostage.
The inmates climbed the back wall of the jail to get out of the premises. The accused also snatched the cash and mobile phones from the jail staff so that they couldn’t inform the police. The matter came to light on Sunday morning.
Some of the inmates who had escaped had already attained adulthood and the jail authorities had written to higher authorities to shift them to central jail, but no avail.
The accused who escaped from the jail are facing heinous charges such as murder, attempt to murder, rape and drug peddling.
The two staffers of the jail who were beaten up badly by the accused are Ruldu Ram and Raj Kumar. They have been admitted to the civil hospital for treatment. Raj Kumar also lost his two teeth in the incident.
The victims said that it was a pre-planned conspiracy of the accused. The accused made the staff enter a barrack on the pretext of water supply problem and overpowered them, thrashed them and made them hostages in the barrack.
The accused snatched the mobile phones and cash from the staff. The accused acted smartly and made a rope using their clothes and climbed the wall of the jail and escaped from the jail premises.
{{/usCountry}}The accused snatched the mobile phones and cash from the staff. The accused acted smartly and made a rope using their clothes and climbed the wall of the jail and escaped from the jail premises.
{{/usCountry}}The accused involved in jailbreak are Dharminder Singh (18), resident of Fatehpur in Mansa district, facing murder and other charges; Lovedeep Singh (16) of Mansa district, facing murder charges; Gurpreet Singh (18) of Ferozepur, facing drug-peddling charges; Veerinder Singh (17) of Nabha, facing murder charges; Tarsem Singh (17) of Barnala, facing attempt-to-murder charges and Gurvinder Singh (19) of Bhadaur in Barnala district, who is facing rape charges.
Inspector Satnam Singh at Shimlapuri police station said the police had launched a manhunt for the arrest of the accused. He said the police have also alerted the police of the home districts of the accused.
It is the second such incident in the past four years. In July 2010, eight inmates had fled from the juvenile home after cutting the grills of the window. However, the accused were arrested later.