Police personnel in front of the district jail in Jowai on Saturday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Shillong, Sept. 13: A guard was killed by a group of undertrial prisoners during an attempted jailbreak at Jowai in Jaintia Hills district today.

At 7.30am, a dozen undertrial prisoners, including five Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) cadres held captive at the district jail, made their bid for freedom.

Constable Lala Ray, 38, was on duty in the office room of the jail at the time. Police sources said the prisoners approached him and asked for the armoury key.

When Ray refused to oblige, they assaulted him and one of the undertrials, Shankar Sangma, stabbed the constable while the others tried to break open the steel almirah where they supposed the arms and ammunition were kept.

However, the arms and ammunition were actually kept in a wooden almirah nearby. The gang, having failed to locate the firearms, found themselves in an awkward position.

A panic-stricken jailer, meanwhile, informed the police about the jailbreak attempt. The reserve battalion office rushed a large number of police personnel to the jail.

The Jaintia Hills superintendent of police, M.K. Singh, said he had fired two rounds in the air as a warning and made an announcement asking the assailants either to surrender or face bullets.

The prisoners had no option but to surrender and they filed out of the office room. After being re-arrested by the police, they were sent for medical examination.

Police are trying to find out how the prisoners managed to get hold of a knife. Sangma confessed to having got the knife from the jail kitchen.

“We understand that there may be a conspiracy as Sangma said he had the knife with him for the past three days and the 12 prisoners were hatching the plan for some time,” Singh said.

“It is a mystery how the prisoners managed to get the knife from the kitchen which was used for stabbing the constable,” he added.

The police have already registered a case and investigations have started to check whether the guards were lax. It is a curious coincidence that there were no sentries in the two towers of the jail at the time of the jailbreak.

“Action will be taken against jail staff who are found guilty after the inquiry”, the police officer said.

There are 127 inmates in the district jail at Jowai. There are no separate enclosures for militants in any of the jails in Meghalaya.