CUTTACK: Nearly six months after the Choudwar jailbreak incident, police on Wednesday night arrested the second fugitive Raja Sahani from a hotel at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Police said he is currently being brought on transit remand to Odisha for further interrogation. Two others were also present at the hotel in Rishikesh along with Sahani and they have been handed over to the local police there.
The other absconding prisoner Madhukant Rana was nabbed on February 13. Police said after fleeing the Choudwar Circle jail along with Rana, Sahani was evading arrest by frequently changing his location to different states and even neighbouring country Nepal.
After breaking free, Sahani had formed an organised gang and committed robbery at a jewellery showroom in Mysuru, Karnataka. While two of the five-member gang were arrested, Sahani was wanted in connection with over `15 crore robbery case. He had fled to Rishikesh and was living in disguise by changing his identity and staying at an ordinary hotel near a mutt to avoid being recognised.
After Rana’s arrest, police had gathered some crucial information about Sahani during interrogation. A special team of Commissionerate Police had intensified searches for Sahani for the last one month across states like Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Karnataka. He was subsequently tracked from the hotel in Rishikesh and arrested.
On February 13, police had arrested Rana from an ashram guesthouse in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh where he was working. Rana had revealed before the police that the duo after escaping the jail fled to Puri by train where they stayed near a public toilet and the next day boarded a train to their native state Bihar.
The duo had escaped from Choudwar prison on October 2 night during Dussehra celebrations by cutting the iron rods of their cells and climbing two walls with the help of a makeshift rope.