Dec. 11: Dawn was breaking over Haflong when a loud explosion shattered the calm inside the sub-jail.

As if on cue, the warder of the small prison opened the door of the cell housing three hardcore militants and five other undertrials. The rebels belonging to the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah shot past the warder and ran through the open main gate, all the time firing from their pistols. The lone sentry at the gate, bewildered, fired back but the prisoners had escaped into the thick early morning fog. It was 5.30am.

Those who made the daring jailbreak included a top DHD (J) commander, Athen Hapila, 30, alias Daku, known to be involved in several murderous attacks across North Cachar Hills. He was arrested in October 2007 with 11 AK-47 rifles, a lethod gun and Rs 19 lakh in cash.

The DHD (J) is a breakaway faction of the Dima Halam Daogah, fighting for a separate homeland for the Dimasa tribe. While the DHD entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Centre and Assam, the Jewel Gorlosa group insisted on keeping its weapons even during ceasefire, thus derailing the talks.

The other two who escaped were Daniel Dimasa and Nalo Dimasa, an area operational commander of the Langting area. Daniel, a close friend of Gorlosa, now believed to be hiding in Dimapur in Nagaland, was captured early this year at Guwahati railway station while he was on his way to north Bengal on a passenger train.

Police tonight arrested warder Raguam Rongmei for abetting the escape. North Cachar Hills additional superintendent of police, Sudhakar Singh, said over phone that a case has been registered under Section 224 IPC. “Rongmei has been arrested for allowing the extremists to flee... this is a crime and goes beyond mere dereliction of duty.”

He said operations were on to apprehend the three militants. “We have some idea about where they could possibly be hiding.”

A hilltop town known for its scenic beauty, Haflong is around 370 km from Guwahati.

The low-security sub-jail in Haflong does not even have a perimeter wall and only has a barbed-wire fence around the small building. The sub-jail is situated next to Haflong police station.

The three rebels, all booked under the National Security Act, were brought to the sub-jail from Nagaon jail to be produced in court in different cases.

ASP Singh said over phone that the three militants were kept in the same cell with five other undertial prisoners. The jail has eight cells and there were 53 inmates.

He said the circumstances leading to the jailbreak werestill hazy. “We have gathered that a grenade exploded just outside the perimeter fence. Almost immediately, warder Rongmei opened the door to the cell holding the three rebels. They shoved him aside and fled through the main gate. There was a thick fog cover at that time so nobody could make out which way they went,” he said.

A lone sentry on guard, standing a little way from the gate, claimed that he was fired upon and he had fired back. “But they managed to escape under the thick cover of fog,” he added.

There are 18 personnel of Assam Police Battalion deployed at the sub-jail, but only two are on duty as sentries at a time — one each in the front and at the rear.

Sources said the jailbreak was planned with meticulous care by the outfit which had smuggled in grenades and pistols to the jailed cadres. “There was an inside hand, perhaps more than one. The jail security is very lax. Visitors are never frisked and are even allowed to go close to the prisoners,” a source said. Appeals by the police for a wall to be built around the jail have fallen on deaf ears,” the source said.

“Superintendent of police Dipak Kedia will investigate the jailbreak,” North Cachar Hills deputy commissioner Anil Kumar Borua said.

Security forces apprehend a spurt in violence by the DHD (J) once the trio rejoin the outfit.

The escape will also come as a big morale booster for the Jewel faction, which had earlier this week spurned an Assam government offer of ceasefire on condition that the cadres should deposit all their arms to the police armoury before talks could begin.