Patna, March 13: Taking a cue from the string of jailbreaks in Bihar recently, 88 juvenile delinquents escaped from remand homes in Patna and Ara last night.

A protest in the home at Gayaghat in Patna, housing 131 inmates, flared into a revolt when 76 boys reportedly snatched the keys from a caretaker last night and escaped after beating up several officials and guards.

Twelve boys returned later, said district magistrate Deepak Kumar. Some said they did not return on their own but were nabbed by police, who have launched a manhunt.

Four constables, two havildars and a beat officer have been suspended and an inquiry has been ordered, said senior superintendent of police Nayar Hasnain Khan.

About 60 km away in Ara, 12 other boys of the local remand home fled the same night.

The inmates of the Patna institution were protesting for two days against the removal of the home guards and deployment of the district armed force on duty at the home.

The change was being made in response to directives of the Patna High Court chief justice, who took cognisance of the poor state of Bihar’s remand homes some years ago and was monitoring their overall improvement with the help of a team of activists and professionals.

Recently he visited the homes and ordered the state police chief to provide better security. Accordingly, the director-general removed the home guards and entrusted security to retired army personnel.

“Senior inmates of the boys’ home have a dreaded history of getting all sorts of drugs with the help of home guards,” said high court advocate Ashok Priyadarshi, a member of the monitoring team.

The high court had intervened in the functioning of both institutions not only because of the messy state of affairs, but also illegal practices there.

Two weeks ago, four girls from a home surrendered before a magistrate and accused the home authorities of forcible engaging them in prostitution. “The authorities, with the help of security, were taking us out regularly in the night to various people; and finally they made us run away. We have surrendered after hearing from papers that arrest warrants have been issued against us,” the girls had confessed.

Priyadarshi added that before the team started visiting the homes, the situation was really messy. “Food, sanitation, discipline — everything was quite bad; things have changed a lot,” he said.

The Bihar government has neither fully implemented the juvenile justice act, nor created a juvenile board as ordained by the act. “Unfortunately, no real effort is being made to rehabilitate the inmates.