Jailbreak: Women inmates may have received outside aid

In a first, two women prisoners break out of Kerala jail
The two prisoners who escaped from the jail at Attakulangara.

Thiruvananthapuram: The police suspect that inmates Sandhya and Shilpa who jumped the Attakulangara jail on Tuesday may have received help from outside.

Though the cops have no confirmed clues about the duo's whereabouts, it is suspected that they have fled to Tamil Nadu.

This is the first reported instance in Kerala of women inmates escaping from jail.

The police confirm that that the duo scaled the rear wall of the jail premises at Attakulangara in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. They took an autorickshaw coming from the Manakkad side and reached Thiruvananthapuram medical college's ST Hospital by 7.30 pm.

The auto driver told the cops that the duo went inside the hospital claiming to fetch the money for the auto ride but never came back.

The cops' search for the prisoners at their native place, railway and bus stations proved to be futile. Shilpa has friends in Tamil Nadu, prompting the police to believe that she could have gone there.

Varkala native Sandhya and Pangode native Shilpa were jailed on June 7 and June 17, respectively, after they were accused in theft and cheating cases. They met for the first time in the jail. A special team has been set up to probe the case.

Grave negligence

An enquiry has found that grave negligence on the part of jail authorities led to the escape of the two women inmates. The jail department inquiry has found that the two were given excessive freedom within the jail.

On the orders of jail chief Rishiraj Singh, DIG Santhosh Kumar has begun a probe into the jailbreak. A report has to be submitted before July 1. Jail employees say that the duo scaled the wall by climbing up on a heap of garbage.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.