BHUBANESWAR: In a major embarrassment to police, two anti-socials detained on charges of theft managed to flee the Gop police station, about 52 km from the state capital, by breaking open a rickety skylight of the washroom late on Tuesday night.
Three police personnel were present in the police station when the incident took place. The two, identified as Krishna Sahoo and Surjyakanta Mohanty, were detained for interrogation over their alleged involvement in theft from a general store within Gop police limits recently. Police had registered a case and examined the CCTV cameras before detaining them on Tuesday evening.
A local journalist had also lodged a complaint with police alleging theft of his motorcycle. Sources said the police were suspecting the duo’s involvement behind the theft of the two-wheeler too.
The two were not lodged inside the lock-up and were made to sit on a bench inside the police station. Sources said the anti-socials had most likely inspected the police station and noticed that the washroom’s skylight was in a bad condition which they used to their advantage. At 10 pm, the shift of the police personnel changed and the rush of the public also reduced significantly late in the night. While an assistant sub-inspector was engaged as the diary charge officer (DCO), two constables were present for other duties like keeping a watch on the detainees.
Initial probe revealed one of them took the permission to use the washroom and managed to escape after 10 pm. Taking advantage of the inattentive on-duty cops, the other also managed to head towards the washroom and fled through the already broken skylight. Gop police registered a case against the duo and an additional SP rank officer visited the spot to investigate the matter. Sources said the IIC of Gop police station was on leave when the incident took place.