Undertrial who fled from Ludhiana Central Jail week ago nabbed from Bihar

An undertrial, Rahul, who mysteriously went missing from the Central Jail, Ludhiana, about a week ago, was caught from his native place in Bihar by a team of the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate.

Interestingly, Jail Superintendent Kulwant Singh was adamant on his statement that the inmate could not escape from the jail due to advanced security arrangements, but Rahul managed to elude everyone and reached Bihar. Now with the arrest of the suspect from Bihar, the incident has exposed chinks in jail security. His escape from a jail where CRPF jawans are deployed raised serious questions about prison management.

To cover up chinks in security arrangements in the prisons, the Jail Department had suspended staff members, including a CCTV operator and two head wardens — Rajinder Singh Sidhwan and Dharmpal.

On October 14, the inmate went missing during evening attendance and the jail administration began searching for him inside the prisons.

The police found sewerage lids open and suspected he had escaped through the sewerage system. When officials searched the entire sewerage system, they found no possibility of escape. Even super suction machines are used for mechanical sewer cleaning. These machines have cameras attached to the front of pipes, which can detect any material within the sewer and cleaning is carried out accordingly.

Meanwhile, the police used drones to search for the suspect on the prison premises but when they could not find him, they called off the operation. Later, they checked CCTV cameras around the prison and began searching for him.

Meanwhile, the Ludhiana police registered a case against the inmate and launched investigation. During the probe, the police received information that he had fled to his village in Bihar. Commissioner of Police (CP) Swapan Sharma, who personally supervised the case, sent two teams to Bihar, where the police apprehended him.

The CP confirmed that the inmate was arrested by the city police team from Bihar and he was being questioned how he managed to escape from the jail.

Not an isolated case

In May 2023 also, taking advantage of security lapses in the Central Jail, an undertrial had escaped through an under-construction watchtower of the prisons after returning from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) court. Jail officials came to know about the same at night during the attendance of inmates. They were shocked when they did not find him in the barrack and sounded alert. However, he was arrested by the police later.