ROURKELA: The decomposed body of an under-trial prisoner (UTP) who escaped from Rourkela special jail four days back, was found in the nearby forest on Durgapur hill on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as 30-year-old Suresh Barla (30). His body was recovered just a few hundred metre away from the jail premises.
IIC of RN Pali police station Rajendra Swain said the UTP’s body was identified with the help of his family members. His decomposed body infested with maggots bore a few injury marks which the UTP possibly sustained after he jumped from the jail wall to escape.
It is suspected that after jumping from the high boundary wall of the jail, Barla suffered fatal injuries. Determined not to be caught, he might have managed to pull himself up to the forested Durgapur hill where he succumbed to his injuries. The hill is at a touching distance of the jail boundary wall, said police.
Swain said police seized the body in presence of a forensic team and an executive magistrate. An unnatural death case has been registered in this connection. The exact reason of the UTP’s death will be ascertained after the autopsy report arrives, he added.
On September 17, the UTP had managed to climb an unoccupied watch tower of the jail and reach the top of the boundary wall. On spotting him, a jail guard had warned him to come down.
However, Barla jumped outside and escaped. Security personnel rushed outside the jail to nab the UTP, but did not thoroughly search the vicinity thinking that Barla might have escaped. The RN Pali police too was convinced that the UTP had managed to flee, said sources.
Barla was arrested by Brahmani Tarang police on July 25 for trying to murder his mother over a family dispute. Since then, he was lodged in Rourkela special jail before he escaped on September 17.