Taken to clean house of jail SP, undertrial flees

The escape of an undertrial prisoner from Pathankot Jail on Monday afternoon has landed in trouble the jail SP, Jaswinder Singh, and four other officials. The police have registered a case under Section 223 (escape from confinement or custody due to negligence of public servant) and 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his law apprehension) of the IPC against all the officials.

The police said that the undertrial in a theft case, Sunil Kumar, was brought out of the jail to clean Singh's official residence for the New Year, when he fled. He was undergoing trial in a case registered against him at Dhar Kalan police station on August 19, 2012. "He was brought out to clean the house of Jail SP for the New Year," said Pathankot SSP S K Kalia.

The investigation officer in the case, Rakesh Kumar, said the other officials booked in the case include main gate sentry Jagtar Singh, baracks incharge Sarwan Singh and officials Surjeet Kumar and Subhash Chander posted at the corridors inside the jail.

Kumar said Sarwan Singh handed over the undertrial to Surjeet Kumar and Subhash Chander, who took him to the official residence of Jail SP, from where he escaped. "While they (jail officials) brought him out for cleaning work, they did not supervise his movements and he escaped," Kumar said.

It is learnt that the jail officials have been granted bail after arrest.

Meanwhile, the jail SP said that jail officials were shifting the blame on him to save themselves.

"I never asked them to bring an undertrial for my personal work. My peon does the cleaning job and when he is not there, my family members take care of that," he claimed.

Singh said that Sunil Kumar was brought out of the jail by officials "without his notice for some cleaning work of the jail for New Year". "In case, we bring the jail inmates out for such works, it is always some convicted person whose release dates are near. In no case, any undertrial could be brought out for such works," Singh said.

... contd.

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