19-year-old inmate slips out of Mumbai’s Byculla jail, officials realise only during headcount

A 19-year-old youth, who was arrested over a mobile phone theft case, escaped from Byculla jail on Sunday. Taking advantage of the plaster work going on inside the prison, he slipped out without being noticed.

The Nagpada police are trying to trace the accused who is seen moving out of the jail in the CCTV footage.

The accused, Asif Majeed Shaikh, 19, is a resident of Goregaon. He was arrested by the Government Railway Police at Bandra in a mobile theft case and a case was registered against him at Bandra GRP under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the jail authorities, Shaikh was brought to the jail on Thursday.

“On May 6, the jail authorities did a head count in the evening and found one inmate missing. There were around 400 males lodged in the jail,” said a police officer.

The jail authorities started a search but did not find Shaikh. “The CCTV footage from the jail was scanned. It and cleared showed Shaikh moving out of the jail,” added the officer.

Rajvardhan Sinha, IG (prisons), confirmed that Shaikh escaped from the jail. He said, “There’s scaffolding everywhere as plaster work is going on in Byculla jail. Taking advantage of this, he escaped.”

A case has been registered at Nagpada police station under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code.

“We have also contacted the Bandra GRP to get some clue in tracing Shaikh. Also, we are checking CCTV cameras at railway stations. A team has been formed to trace him,” said the officer.