COIMBATORE: An undertrial prisoner who managed to give the slip to policemen escorting him to the Central Prison, was nabbed within hours by a special team on Tuesday night.
A Mubarak Ali (28), a history-sheeter, was being brought back to the Coimbatore Central Prison after a hearing at the Mettupalayam magistrate court when he requested the escort personnel to stop the vehicle as he wanted to relieve himself. When the vehicle was stopped near Periyanaickenpalayam, Mubarak Ali managed to flee. Immediately, the escort party alerted higher officials, who constituted special teams comprising over 50 personnel, including an ADSP, two DSPs, four inspectors and four Armed Reserve personnel to search Periyanaickenpalayam and the surrounding areas. After hours of search, a team swooped down on Mubarak and apprehended him from his hideout. He was later brought to the prison.
Sources said the incident had caused much embarrassment to the district police and disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the sub-inspector and a constable who were accompanying the prisoner. According to a police official, a prisoner should be taken to the nearest police station if he wanted to relieve himself.
Sources told Express that one of the escort personnel broke the news to Mubarak on the court campus that his wife had given birth to a child. The prisoner too confessed that he escaped to see his wife and child, the sources added.
Meanwhile, another police official said the escort personnel were not the only ones to be blamed. “The escort personnel committed a mistake, but the district police too should take equal responsibility for the lapse,” he said, adding that the rule mandated that every prisoner should be accompanied by two personnel.
However, in the present case, there were three prisoners in the vehicle with only two escort personnel on duty, he said.
Beaten Up?
Hours after his arrest, Mubarak Ali was seen limping inside the prison. When contacted, sources inside the Coimbatore Central Prison said Mubarak was badly beaten up by the policemen following which he sustained injuries on his arms and legs. Mubarak was undergoing treatment for the injuries, the sources added.