As per the report, sources said, the two inmates Jasvir Singh and Harvinder Singh who escaped did not go back to the barrack in the evening at the time of head count when inmates are lodged in the barracks in the evening and afterwards not allowed out.
A PROBE into the Ludhiana jailbreak case where two under-trial brothers escaped from the Ludhiana Central Jail on May 13 has indicted at least three jail officials, including the deputy superintendent and assistant jail superintendent, for lapses at various levels.
Sources said the probe report puts the role of Ludhiana Jail superintendent, who was incidentally on leave the day inmates escaped, also under scanner as it underlines that lapses were not merely day-specific, but had been “continuing” in the jail.
The probe was conducted by IG (Jails) Roop Kumar Arora on the directions of Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
As per the report, sources said, the two inmates Jasvir Singh and Harvinder Singh who escaped – The duo faced a common case of theft dating back to February this year and Harvinder was facing another case registered against him under NDPS Act – did not go back to the barrack in the evening at the time of head count when inmates are lodged in the barracks in the evening and afterwards not allowed out.
The report, sources told, pointed out glaring lapses in the head-count exercise at Ludhiana Central Jail. Sources said jail officials may not have come to know about the jail escape until May 14, Monday, but for a court hearing of the under-trials on the day. “After the inmates were locked up in the evening on Sunday during a routine bandi, a jail official subsequently went to the barrack to inform the duo that they were scheduled to attend a court hearing on May 14. But, he did not find the duo inside the barrack. This is how the jail administration learnt that the under-trials had escaped,” sources revealed.
Their movements, captured on the CCTV cameras in the jails, showed that they moved freely for nearly “one hour” inside the jail, before making their escape, said a source.
The probe report also lists glaring lapses in the deployment of jail staff on strategic points, including the point that separates two barracks, which would have prevented the free movement of the suspects, said the source.
The CCTV cameras footage showed the duo moving to a place, before disappearing from the reach of camera and then emerging again after a considerable time and moving to another direction, from where they are suspected to have escaped.
When contacted, Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said he would “study the report and order action”.