Jajpur: Authorities on Sunday shifted 156 undertrial prisoners of the town's century-old sub-jail after its boundary wall collapsed because of incessant rain on Friday night.

The undertrial prisoners have been shifted to Ragadi sub-jail in Korei block in Jajpur. The transfer of inmates was carried out with high security cover.

The Ragadi sub-jail authorities on Monday said it had received 156 undertrial prisoners from its Jajpur counterpart. The transferred inmates included 148 male, eight female and an infant.

"We transferred 156 inmates to Ragadi sub-jail in five buses under high security cover on Sunday evening. The buses carrying inmates were escorted by two platoons of armed police," said Jajpur sub-jail superintendent Laxmi Mukhi.

Soon after the incident, the sub-jail authorities immediately reported the matter to the district collector as well as the higher authorities of prisons.

On being informed, additional director-general of prisons Binod Kumar Jha, Jajpur collector Ranjan Kumar Das and district superintendent of police Charan Singh Meena visited the wall collapsed site to take stock of the situation. The sub-jail was overcrowded with 349-odd undertrial prisoners before the shifting of the inmates. However, sources said the sub-jail had facility for 195 inmates. Therefore, post-shifting, the inmates' number in the sub-jail came down to 193.

Sources said the sub-jail's boundary wall had already been weak as it was built in 1912 and heavy rain over the past few days had only loosened the structure leading to its collapse on Sunday. A 70-feet-long structure was caved in around 2am when all the inmates were sleeping in a hall inside the jail. A few toilets of the jail located near the boundary wall have been completely damaged. But, no casualty or injury to the prisoners was reported following the wall collapse.

Cattle charred

Two herds of cow and six sheep were charred to death on Sunday night following a fire outbreak at Katara village in Tirtol tehsil of Jagatsinghpur district.