About 200 inmates break out of Indonesian jail

May 05, 2017 05:32 pm | Updated 05:32 pm IST - JAKARTA:

About 200 prisoners in Indonesia broke out of an overcrowded jail on Sumatra island on Friday, tearing down a gate near a mosque in the prison complex after being allowed out of their cells to pray, officials said.

Inmates had complained about their treatment in the jail in Pekanbaru, Riau province, and accused some guards of being violent, said Ferdinand Siagian, head of the regional office of the Law Ministry.

“This triggered the incident before Friday prayers, Mr. Siagian told Metro TV.

Guntur Aryo Tejo, a Riau police spokesman, said 77 inmates had been recaptured of the approximately 200 who had escaped. Television footage showed a police officer in black riot gear holding one man in a headlock.

The jail has a capacity of up to 700 inmates but was housing about 1,800 prisoners, Mr. Tejo told Metro TV.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.