Three prisoners, including a murder accused, escaped from Durgapur sub-correctional home after apparently scaling and jumping from the 30ft-high boundary wall on Sunday.

The escape came to light when jail authorities were taking a count of prisoners on Sunday afternoon. The administration and police immediately launched a search.

The three prisoners were Nepal Mirdha, a resident of Jamtara in Jharkhand and a murder accused; Bhuban Neogi, a resident of Ramnagar in South 24-Parganas and an accused in a petrol pump robbery; and Mohammad Sahabuddin, a resident of Jamuria in West Burdwan, who was accused of attempting to murder his wife.

Late around midnight, Neogi was captured from a jungle stretch in the Molandighi area of Kanksa police station limit.

A night patrol team spotted him limping on the Muchipara-Shibpur road.

“We brought him to the police outpost for interrogation and after matching photographs of prisoners who had fled, we identified him as Bhuban Neogi,” said Suman Jaiswal, assistant commissioner of police (Kanksa).

Neogi broke down and admitted to escaping from the prison. “He also injured both his legs while scaling and jumping from the boundary wall,” said a police officer.

“We think the two others also injured their legs and could be hiding in areas not far off from the jail. We are trying to trace them,” said Jaiswal.

Deputy inspector general of jail (Burdwan Range) Subhabrata Chatterjee arrived at the jail for inspection. He admitted that there was a lapse in security arrangement and it helped the prisoners escape.

“We have ordered a probe. There was a lapse. We have show-caused the authorities and actions will be taken accordingly,” he said.

Jail officials were surprised that the three prisoners could scale the boundary wall and jump from a height of over 30ft.