Banglore: In a daring escape, Jaishankar, a 36-year-old undertrial facing more than two dozen criminal charges including rape and murder, gave the officials and guards at the high security Parappana Agrahara Central prison the slip in the wee hours of Sunday. The incident has left the police administration red-faced and embarrassed as the undertrial was wearing a police uniform while making the jailbreak.
“We learnt that Jaishankar escaped from the jail by climbing two 20-feet inner walls and the 30-feet outer wall between 2am and 4 am,” Karnataka’s inspector general of police (prisons), KV Gagandeep, told reporters.
The IGP suspended three wardens, two jailors and six security guards who were on duty at the time of the breakout, and ordered an inquiry into the incident that came to light when Jaishankar did not turn up for morning roll-call and was found missing from his cell.
“The accused was lodged in a separate barrack as he was under treatment for an ailment. He used clothes and nylon ropes to climb the walls and also got injured as there were drops of blood outside the outer wall,” Gagandeep said.
According to preliminary investigation, Jaishankar even managed to hoodwink a couple of security guards patrolling between the first and third walls by disguising as a policeman and pretending to be part of the prison staff.
“We are investigating how he got the police dress and fled in darkness as there was a power failure and the electric fence on the top of the outer wall was not functioning due to power cut and sudden rain in the area,” Gagandeep said.
The IGP said Jaishankar managed to open the cell with “some sort of thing”, came to the ground floor and climbed the 20-feet wall with the help of a pole which led to the outer wall, which is peppered with glass pieces to prevent any inmates from escaping. The undertrial is facing a number of cases in the state and neighbouring Tamil Nadu after he was arrested in May 2011.
“We have set up a special team to trace the accused as he is carrying a Rs 10 lakh cash reward and has a history of escaping from Salem and Coimbatore prisons in Tamil Nadu earlier,” Gagandeep said.
DIG prisons, Vishwanathaiah, is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the incident to find out how Jaishankar managed to escape without any of the officials or the guards being alerted at the high security establishment.
DNA
