As many as 50 prisoners lodged in a Darbhanga District Jail ward did not flee despite having ample opportunity after two other inmates escaped in the early hours of Wednesday.
Sources said Nand Kishore Sah (18) and Rajendra Ram (25) fled the jail by making space through a rickety window after bending its rusted rods. The district administration has ordered a probe into the circumstances leading to the jailbreak. It also wants to ascertain if the jail administration was in any way involved in the incident.
Nand Kishore and Rajendra Ram bent the rusted window rods in ward no. 3 of Darbhanga District Jail and fled between 2am and 3am. As the remaining 50 prisoners did not flee, sources said the district administration is considering the possibility that the jail administration was involved in the incident.
District magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal told The Telegraph: “If the prisoners fled the jail, they would have had to scale the 18ft boundary. But there is no spot on the wall even though the ground was wet on Tuesday night because of the downpour. Why did not the remaining 50 prisoners in the same ward try to flee when they had the chance? All of this makes us doubt the circumstances of the jailbreak.”
He added: “The senior superintendent of police, Garima Malik, and I visited the spot today (Wednesday). We did not find any evidence that pointed to the prisoners fleeing jail. Without the probe, it is difficult to arrive at any conclusion but involvement of the jail administration cannot be completely ruled out. We have directed additional district magistrate Dinesh Kumar to probe the incident. The sub-divisional officer and deputy superintendent of police will accompany him.”
Jail sources said Sah, a resident of Baswaria Tola in Sitamarhi, was lodged in the prison since December 2011 on charges of theft. He was convicted under special Lok Adalat organised on the jail premises in June this year and awarded a jail term of 18 months.
Ram, a resident of Jatkaulia village of East Champaran, was lodged at the district jail since October last year on charges of kidnapping.
A case was registered against the two at Laheria Sarai police station. The police conducted raids at their possible hideouts.
