Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the escape of three prisoners from Central Jail, Amritsar, and has also directed Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to immediately suspend, pending inquiry, all those responsible for prison security. A Statewide hunt was launched for the escaped prisoners on Sunday morning.
Escape in early hours
The incident came to light around 3.20 a.m., after the undertrial prisoners broke their barrack and escaped by scaling the inner and outer walls of the jail, as per the CCTV footage of the prison, said an official statement. The Chief Minister has ordered the Additional Director General of Police, Jails, to revamp prison security in the wake of the incident.
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“The prison guards were alerted about the escape by other inmates, including the brother of one of the escaped prisoners, according to initial reports. There was no evidence of outside help, according to preliminary investigations, which suggest that the trio, among 61 prisoners in Barrack no. 7, Ahata No. 2, had planned the escape on their own,” said the statement.
Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta said in the statement that the men apparently made a hole in the wall of their barrack by removing about 10 bricks. They then appear to have scaled the inner wall (about 16 feet high) by standing atop the other, while they climbed the outer wall (21 feet approx.) by using a hook made of a steel bar and the cover of a quilt. They escaped the jail complex from a point near Tower No. 10, which was not under CCTV cover, he said.
One of the escaped prisoners has been identified as Vishal, hailing from Amritsar. The other two are brothers, identified as Gurpreet and Jarnail of Khadoor Sahib, the officer added.
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The Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday demanded an immediate dismissal of the Jails Minister and a probe by a sitting judge of the High Court into the escape of the three prisoners.
(With PTI inputs)