ROURKELA: Five juvenile offenders have made a daring escape from the observation home on the high security Rourkela Special Jail campus. The dramatic incident took place reportedly on the afternoon of August 30, but came to light on Wednesday.
While the act of breaching security in broad daylight was gutsy enough, what was more baffling was the well-planned nature of the escape. They made the first move by damaging the cable of the northern surveillance camera.
They then fashioned a makeshift rope by using bedshseets, tied a brick to it and flung it across a large teak tree close to the northern wall. When the rope got stuck to a branch, all five of them scaled the 18-ft high wall one by one and fled.
Superintendent Himanshu Sekhar Mishra informed that the escapees were aged 13 to 17 years and lodged on theft charges. “With astute planning, they not only bypassed the manual but also the electronic security system,” he said.
According to the superintendent’s account, the inmates were familiar with the security apparatus. He also pointed out that the prison’s proximity to the forested area along the foothills of Durgapur hill continues to pose a major security threat.
“Four of them hail from Sundargarh district and one from Keonjhar. Three of them had got bail earlier but their families could not take them due to monetary issues and Covid-19 lockdown. However, we have informed them to help us bring them back. Police is on the lookout,” the superintendent stated. Four months ago, four other juveniles had fled the observation home under different circumstances.