Assam's Morigaon jail prisoner arrested in Andhra Pradesh

Guwahati, Nov 3 (IANS) One of the escaped prisoners from Assam’s Morigaon District Jail was arrested by police from Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Sunday.

The inmate was identified as Joynal Islam and he was taken into custody from Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh.

“We have been tracing Islam since he escaped from the prison and a few days ago we could trace his location in the Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, in a joint operation with Andhra Pradesh Police, Islam was arrested,” a senior police official said.

Earlier, one of the escaped prisoners from Assam’s Morigaon district jail was found dead in a lake who was identified as Abdul Rashid. He was undergoing trial in a POCSO case and was lodged in the Morigaon district jail last year.

Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Morigaon district, Hemanta Kumar Das said: “One of the inmates known as Abdur Rashid who broke the jail and escaped, died in a pond. We got to know about his movement in the Lahorighat area in the district two days ago and accordingly, an operation was launched to nab him.”

He added that the investigation team also traced the mobile of Rashid and surrounded him in the Dumduma Lake in Laharighat.

“The local people also helped the police team in the operation. However, Abdur Rashid somehow fell into the lake from a boat he was hiding and died. The body was recovered and sent for a post-mortem examination,” he said.

The jail superintendent of Morigaon district jail was suspended following the escape of five undertrial prisoners a few weeks back. The suspension of Prashanta Saikia, the jail superintendent was ordered by the Inspector General (Prison) of Assam Police.

It was alleged that there were lapses from the jail authority which was utilised by five inmates in breaking the rods of the barrack.

According to police, the inmates allegedly used blankets, lungis, and bedsheets to scale the jail wall during the Friday night. They broke the iron rods in their respective barracks and escaped the jail wall.

The jail wall is about 20 feet high; however, the prisoner used blankets, lungis, and bedsheets to make a long thread to escape the tall boundary, the police claimed.

--IANS

tdr/dan