Siliguri, Dec. 28: Seven guards have been found guilty of dereliction of duty for the escape of four undertrials from a jail here on Sunday.
The additional inspector-general (north Bengal) of police Kamal Mukherjee, today submitted a report to IG prisons B. D. Sharma, pointing out lapses on the part of the guards and shortage of manpower in the Siliguri Special Correctional Home.
Mukherjee, however, refused to speak on the action that will be taken against those held responsible for the jailbreak.
The additional IG had visited the Siliguri correctional home yesterday evening to investigate the jailbreak on the instruction of jail minister Biswanath Choudhury.
“There were security lapses at the jail and those who were on duty when the prisoners escaped should take responsibility for the incident. Seven guards were on duty during the escape. Of them, five were in wards and one was posted at the main gate of the prison. There was also a warder-in-charge to monitor the movement of the guards. They all were responsible for the incident,” said Mukherjee.
The additional IG in his report has mentioned that there is a shortage of manpower in the jail.
“There are three watchtowers in the prison which cannot be manned properly because of lack of staff. I will try to sort out the issue after discussing it with the district police officials. The security system of the jail would also be reviewed,” he said.
“There are 55 guards at the jail which is adequate but the problem is different. A certain number of guards remain on leave on a rotational basis and secondly, we need to send two guards along with every prisoner who is shifted from other jails to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for treatment.” said the additional IG.
For this reason on any given day of the year all 55 guards are not available on the prison premises. “This often leads to the shortage of guards and thus certain places like the watchtowers cannot be manned properly.” he added.
The police, however, have not been able to trace the four prisoners who escaped through a bathroom window after cutting an iron rod with a hacksaw.
