Three more inmates of Amritsar jail held

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 28

Days after a jailbreak incident at the high-security Amritsar Central Jail, in which three inmates had escaped, the police have nominated three more prisoners in the case.

According to the police, they were also part of the plan to flee from the jail, but they got afraid and refused to go. This came to light during the interrogation of two escapees who were rearrested by the police.

Those booked were identified as Avtar Singh of Baba Deep Singh Colony, Kuldeep Singh of Ranjitpura and Mandeep Singh of Meera Kot Kalan village. They were arrested from jail and sent back after preliminary probe.

Police authorities said their names figured during the interrogation of two escaped prisoners who were rearrested by the police.

Three undertrial prisoners,Gurpreet Singh, his brother Jarnail Singh, both residents of Khadoor Sahib along with Vishal of Majitha road, had fled the Amritsar Central Jail oin the intervening night of February 1 and 2. While Vishal was a rape accused, other two were arrested for robberies. Vishal’s brother Gaurav, also in the same barrack, chose not to flee with them.

They escaped after making a hole in the wall of their barrack by removing around 10 bricks. They later scaled the inner 16-feet high wall by standing one atop the other and then scaled the outer wall (around 22-feet high) by using a hook made of a steel bar and the cover of a quilt to make a ladder. Thereafter they finally escaped from jail complex from near tower number 10 which was not under CCTV cover.

Earlier, the police had booked six persons — the three undertrials and jail staff nabbed under Sections 223, 224, 427 and 120-B of the IPC. Section 52 of the Prisons Act was added to the FIR. Three jail warders Shamsher Singh, Dhir Singh and Punjab Home Guard jawan Kashmir Singh were arrested a day after the incident. Investigation brought out that warder Shamsher Singh and Dhir Singh were on duty at barrack number 2, where the three undertrials were lodged. Kashmir Singh was deputed at tower number 10 of the inner wall.

Two of the escapees Gurpreet and his brother Jarnail were rearrested by the police on February 8 while Vishal was yet to be arrested.

The police have now added Sections 212, 216, 353, 186 and 326-A in the FIR and arrested their kin for allegedly harbouring the criminals while on run.

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