GUWAHATI, Oct 12: Five undertrial prisoners, all charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, escaped from Morigaon District Jail between 1 to 2 am on Friday, prompting the district administration to order a magisterial probe.
Following the incident, the jailer Prashanta Saikia has been suspended, and two assistant jailers from Guwahati have been temporarily assigned to manage the jail.
Inspector General (Prisons) Pubali Gohain will also conduct a separate departmental inquiry into the incident.
The escaped prisoners, identified as Saifuddin, Ziarul Islam, Nur Islam, Mafidul, and Abdul Rashid, managed to break the rods of their barracks and used blankets, lungis, and bed sheets to scale a 20-foot wall.
According to Morigaon District Commissioner Devashis Sarma, the prisoners included individuals from police stations in Tezpur in Sonitpur district, Lahorighat, and Moirabari in Morigaon district.
Morigaon Superintendent of Police Hemanta Kumar Das confirmed that a manhunt has been launched to track down the five escaped undertrial prisoners charged under the POCSO Act.
“We will interrogate some of the jail inmates tomorrow. Everything will come out in the investigation,” Das said and added the police intensify efforts to capture the fugitives.
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