6 days on, three Patiala jail escapees still evade arrest

Patiala, May 3

Almost six days after three inmates escaped from the Patiala Central Jail, the police grope in the dark as despite raids none of them could be arrested.

Thorough investigation needed

Which route did they take and who helped them scale the 14-ft outer wall? It needs a thorough probe. — A top officer

Lodged in the Koratine barrack, the trio escaped early on Wednesday morning following laxity on part of jail officials. The police are investigating as to how they managed to scale a 10-ft inner wall and then the outer wall that is over 14 ft high.

Sources said the authorities had got “limited clues so far”, primarily due to the poor placement of CCTV cameras inside the jail premises. The missing convicts are alleged mastermind of the escape Sher Singh of Vanike village in Amritsar, Inderjeet Singh Dhiana of Ranipur village, Komboa in Kapurthala, and Jaspreet Singh Noopi of Roopnagar.

On November 16, 2009, Harpreet Aulakh, a UK-based NRI and father of two, got his wife Geeta murdered after she sought to end their marriage. Geeta was attacked in London by two hired killers, Jaswant Singh Dhillon of Ilford and Sher Singh, a teenager from Southall. They both were sentenced to 22 years in jail. Sher Singh was recently shifted to the Patiala prison and is considered the mastermind of the jailbreak.

A top officer probing the case said there was no clue yet as to how they managed to flee.

To execute their escape, the inmates broke out of the bathroom of their cell. Despite the presence of jail guards, the three managed to get away without being noticed. “The cell from which they escaped has a watch tower, but it seems it was left unmanned,” a source inside the jail confirmed.

Patiala SSP Vikram Jeet Duggal said his teams were probing the case and the accused would be arrested soon. — TNS

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