After a gap of four years, a jailbreak has been reported in the central prison here with two undertrials housed in a two-tier security barracks escaping on Friday.
Both Rebanna, 22, and Aillappa, 23, who had been lodged in the 5D barracks since August last year, escaped by scaling a 12-ft-high wall using an iron rod, bedsheets, a lungi and a towel.
Preliminary investigation suggested that they first cut the bars of the barracks and then scaled a wall on the northern side of the prison.
The incident came to light when home guards on the first shift went around the wall for inspection and found the rod and other supplies. They immediately alerted higher authorities, jail sources said. Eight undertrials were sent to jail in 2011 in connection with a kidnap and murder in Hospet. Of them, three had been released on bail recently. Three others, including the two who escaped, were lodged in the 5D barracks along with 51 prisoners following a group clash inside the jail, sources said.
The other two undertrials were lodged in a separate barracks.Sources said the electric fence along the wall had not been working for a long time. Poor lighting, absence of CCTVs inside the jail and lack of security could have also helped them escape.
Around 10 notorious criminals, including those convicted in the IISc shootout case, are among the 754 prisoners lodged in the jail that has only 48 staff members.