Aizawl: In a major breach, 17 convicts under POCSO, NDPS and theft charges were illegally released from Mizoram’s Lunglei district jail using forged court papers and bogus orders, authorities disclosed.
A jail inmate and a part-time jail ambulance driver, the two arrested masterminds, orchestrated the daring mission, PTI reported.
The plot unravelled on April 27 when Lunglei District and Sessions Judge R Lalduhawmi registered an FIR at the local police station.
Suspicion had arose as undertrial prisoners (UTPs) Malsawmtluanga and Dokapthanga faced her in court on April 24. They flashed alleged discharge orders from Lunglei District Court and Gauhati High Court, demanding release on a Rs 50,000 bond.
Judge Lalduhawmi sensed trouble since she had conducted their hearing just a day earlier, with May 8 set as the next date.
She promptly inspected the district jail, where checks showed several prisoners had gained freedom via bogus court directives, the police statement said.
Police launched an immediate probe and began tracing 15 persons named in the complaint.
Lunglei police tracked down and rearrested 11 of the escapees, sending them back to custody. Khawzawl police captured one additional suspect, while one released prisoner was found to have died after his fraudulent exit, police said.
Further investigation confirmed 17 convicts — in POCSO, drug trafficking (ND&PS), and theft cases — escaped from custody from January 30 to March 18 using the forged documents.
Arrested ringleaders have been identified as Jeremia Lalthangtura (25), a Zemabawk Aizawl resident and jail undertrial, and C Laltlanhlua (31), Republic Vengthlang’s non-regular jail ambulance driver. Apprehended on May 1, they got judicial remand May 7.
Jeremia allegedly ran the fraud from prison, conning inmates with promises of lawyer-filed releases or appeals for payments of Rs 4,000 to 50,000, shared with his partner.
Documents were forged by Jeremia on a Lunglei Rahsi Veng print shop computer and the jail’s office machine. Laltlanhlua supplied keys, kept watch, and delivered them to staff.
Believing the papers to be authentic, jail officials released the convicts, police said.
