Fourteen inmates escaped from a government juvenile observation home in Mathura on Wednesday night by cutting the grill of a window and nine have been apprehended, police said.
According to Udai Shankar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police, Mathura, nine of them were found after search operations carried out through the night. “The juveniles escaped by cutting the grill of the window around 2.30 a.m. One of the guards noticed the movement and informed the police. We immediately pressed police teams into action and search operations were carried out along the Yamuna bank. By morning, nine of them were apprehended and the search is on for others,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu.
In March this year, five inmates escaped from the juvenile home, situated a few metres away from the District Magistrate’s residence, after beating a homeguard. They were brought back later.
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Local sources said the inmates were complaining of poor quality of food in the juvenile home which is allegedly housing more inmates than its sanctioned capacity.
“It is a matter of investigation, but prima facie we have come to know that two of the juveniles were about to be shifted to the district jail because they had turned 18. They misled others and hatched this plan to escape,” said Mr. Singh.