As many as 11 inmates escaped from the State-run Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Erragadda, in the wee hours of Tuesday from the institute’s male criminal ward. According to hospital officials, the under-trial prisoners used an oxygen cylinder to make a big hole in the wall of the criminal ward cell to escape.
Authorities in the hospital said that many in the male criminal wards were getting treated for Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). “Such patients sometimes become extremely violent and it’s difficult for the hospital staff to manage them. In fact, just two days ago, we had requested the police for additional protection of the criminal ward. The escaped convicts could be dangerous for the general public because of their violent behaviour,” hospital doctors said.