Patna, Dec. 25 :    Patna, Dec. 25:  The recovery of a diary from the possession of slain gangster Akshat Singh has brought to light links his gang had with criminal elements in Bangladesh. Singh and his associates had plans to escape to Bangladesh, the diary discloses. A phone number of a minister was also found in the diary. Singh was one of the eight inmates of Nawada jail who escaped on Sunday after snatching a rifle from a sentry at the gate during visiting hours. Earlier reports, quoting police sources, said the eight criminals escaped in a jeep parked outside. The police had launched a massive manhunt to arrest and eventually gunned down three of the escaped prisoners, including Singh and Ashok Mahto, the main accused in the massacre of 12 upper caste villagers in Apshar village in Nawada district last year. The diary gives detailed information on the plan to flee to Bangladesh. The escapees had decided to go to Bokaro in a Tata Maxi provided by associates who had helped in the jailbreak. Nawada superintendent of police J.S. Gangwar said the Tata Maxi was from Bokaro. The diary reveals that after reaching Bokaro, the criminals had plans to go to Sealdah, in Kolkata, from where they were to proceed to Bongaigaon in Assam by train. The plan in the diary indicates that a large network of criminals operating in Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh had helped in chalking out the escape route. From Bongaigaon, Singh and his associates were to proceed to the Bangladesh border by rickshaw. The diary also divulges that the fugitives planned to go to Bangladesh under the direction of Singh. Police said the Tata Maxi carrying the escapees met with an accident before it could cross the boundaries of Nawada. The criminals then snatched a jeep from near the accident site and fled, but had to abandon the vehicle near the jungle of Kauakol hills where they were immediately surrounded by pursuing policemen led by the Nawada superintendent of police. The police also arrested three of the dozen associates who had helped in the jailbreak and the subsequent escape. A massive manhunt is still under way to arrest those who are still at large. Minister for labour Rajballabh Prasad Yadav, whose phone number was found in the diary, today told reporters that it was wrong to conclude that he had any links with criminals. He said he was a people's representative and his phone number was available everywhere. He demanded a CBI enquiry into the jailbreak. Yadav said he had gone to Calcutta on the day of the jailbreak to attend a wedding and had returned to Patna by Shatabdi Express the next day. Taking exception to remarks that he had links with notorious criminals, Yadav said he was an MLA from the Nawada Assembly constituency while the criminals who escaped came from Warsaligunj Assembly segment of Nawada district. Yadav also claimed he had a document that would throw light on the nexus between criminals and jail staff, which resulted in the jailbreak. He said he would publish the document on January 7, 2002, in a Hindi weekly he plans to launch on that day. Minister for prisons Ashok Chaudhary and inspector-general (prisons) Harjot Kaur admitted that security lapses and the connivance of jail staff could not be ruled out.