Over 30 juveniles escaped from a state-run observation home in Mukherjee Nagar after going on a rampage burning furniture and other property, and more than 20 of them are still to be traced.
"33 juveniles escaped amid the chaos that broke out at the remand home yesterday. 10 of them have come back so far, while efforts are on to trace others," an officer at the juvenile observation home said.
In the fourth such incident of rioting and escape at state-run juvenile homes in the last five months in Delhi, juveniles at the Sewa Kutir (observation centre) in north Delhi went on a rampage burning furniture, mattresses, blankets, among others. Rival gangs attacked each other with blades.
The injured were rushed to Hindu Rao hospital for treatment. They were brought back to the home after treatment, and they again went on a rampage in the evening that continued till midnight.
According to Sewa Kutir officials, the home had 114 juveniles, including those who were transferred from Rohini and Tihar here. They claimed that it was these transferred inmates who had vitiated the atmosphere of the home and led to violence.
"We have requested the senior magisterial judges to shift them a number of times, but no one has done anything," an official said.