PANAJI/MAPUSA: A 28-year-old undertrial Vivek Kumar Gautam alias Aryan, a native of Agra, Uttar Pradesh escaped from the North Goa district hospital premises in Mapusa on Tuesday night allegedly with the help of two bike-borne accomplices. He was later apprehended along with the accomplices, including his wife, in Morjim by the crime branch of Goa police late Wednesday evening
The accused was referred to the hospital after he started vomiting in the night. An official at Colvale Central jail said that the accused was examined by the doctor at an in-house clinic and was advised to be taken to the hospital. He was sent to Mapusa in a jail ambulance along with two police escorts.
“The accused pushed the escort who was holding him handcuffed while they waited for the ambulance in the parking lot to take them back to the jail. With the jolt, the handcuffs came off and the accused ran towards the gate. The escort also chased him,” a police official said.
One of the accomplices of the accused, police said, attacked the escort with pepper spray, momentarily blinding him. However, the escort still managed to catch hold of one of the accomplices, while the undertrial and other person managed to escape. However, the duo returned as the escort was wrestling with their companion outside the hospital gate along the road.
“One of them, who was armed with a pistol, fired a round, compelling the escort to lie down on the ground to avoid getting shot. The trio later fled the scene,” he said.
After being examined by the doctor, the accused was brought out of the hospital by the police escort assuming the ambulance was waiting to take them back, while the other personnel were still inside completing the paperwork.
“They (prison authorities) had not received any information from Mapusa police till late Wednesday evening about what exactly transpired apart from the fact that the undertrial had escaped. We suspect everything was pre-planned,” jail official said. The accused is facing trial in a dacoity case. He has also been accused in a theft case registered against him in Uttar Pradesh, he said.