The two-room judicial lock-up, popularly known as Bakshikhana, is an old, dilapidated building which remains overcrowded most of the time when undertrials are brought to courts and lodged for the day. Even yesterday, there were 60 undertrials lodged there when the five broke open a lock and jumped the boundary wall of the Bakshikhana.

The Bakshikhana is located at the farther end of the judicial complex and since the rear wall of one of the rooms is broken, the room generally remains locked when undertrials are put up there. According to preliminary investigation by the police, one of the undertrials, Vinod Kumar alias Goldi, a resident of Lehal Colony in the city, broke open the lock probably with an iron rod.

The five Goldi, Sanjay alias Sonu of Mohalla Suigaran in Patiala, Sunny alias Sanay alias Katua of Bijnor in UP and at present a resident of the Books Market here, Balkar Singh of Nabha and Pardhi Buklia, a resident of Madhya Pradesh escaped even as the rest of the undertrials raised an alarm and the policemen sitting on guard outside the Bakshikhana gate rushed in only to find that the five had fled from the scene.

Superintendent of Police (City) Gurpreet Singh Gill told Newsline tonight that a massive manhunt had been launched with the help of Head Constable Sukhdev Singh, one of the policemen who escorted the five from Central Jail and recognised them, to nab Goldi.

Gill said Sunny and Sanjay were nabbed from near the Old Octroi post in the afternoon when they were headed for the general bus stand. On interrogation, they revealed that Balkar Singh and Buklia were waiting for a train at the railway station, where they were overpowered. Buklia, a Pardhi, is involved in several cases of robberies in the city and had even today made a futile bid to flee when overpowered at the railway station.

Gill said that while Buklia was about 37 years of age, the rest were in their twenties and were involved in several cases of theft, one of them in as many as 15.

The SP said that because of the number of cases against them, these undertrials were being brought to the judicial complex lock-up often for court appearances. Probably, during their visits to this complex, they found the vulnerable spot from where they could manage to flee, he added.

It was for the first time in the past several years that undertrials had managed to escape from judicial lock-up, Gill said. He said no action was planned against the policemen who had accompanied the undertrials from the Central Jail to the courts or those posted outside the lock-up as no laxity had been found on their part.

A case under Section 224 of the IPC has been registered against the four undertrials at the Kotwali Police Station.