MY KOLKATA EDUGRAPH
ADVERTISEMENT
Regular-article-logo Monday, 14 July 2025

Prisoners in Jowai to be separated

Read more below

OUR CORRESPONDENT Published 20.09.08, 12:00 AM

Shillong, Sept. 20: The jailbreak attempt by a group of undertrials at Jowai in Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya last Saturday has goaded the district administration into taking “preventive” steps.

It has decided to shift some hardcore criminals to jails outside the state and some others outside the district. This was disclosed by Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal today.

The dozen undertrials include five Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) cadres.

They were part of the gang that had earlier been booked under the Meghalaya Preventive Detention Act (MPDA) for various crimes in the state.

“We will divide them so that they can be kept separately,” Goyal said.

The police have also registered a fresh case against all the 12 undertrials who ganged up to kill the guard Lala Ray when he resisted their jailbreak attempt. The report of a magisterial inquiry had been submitted recently to the state government for necessary action, Goyal said.

It said lack of alertness was to blame for the jailbreak attempt and the subsequent killing of the guard. The report also raises questions about how the gang got the kitchen knife that was used to stab Ray.

Goyal said the plot to escape was hatched by the prisoners at least three days before the jailbreak bid. “There is a need for a detailed inquiry to know how the prisoners got the knife from the jail kitchen,” he said.

The report also suggested better infrastructure at Jowai jail and the need to increase the number of security personnel.

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT