Warden Suspended For Prisoners’ Escape From Titlagarh Sub-Jail In Odisha

Titlagarh: Three days after two under-trial prisoners (UTPs) escaped from Titlagarh sub-jail, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prisons, Sambalpur, Kulamani Behera on Tuesday suspended jail warden D Dora.

The warden was suspended on charges of negligence of duty after the DIG’s visit to the jail on Monday.

According to reports, the DIG found that the UTPs had escaped by climbing wall no-4 with the help of a ladder. During the probe, he also found the CCTV footage of the camera installed there were missing.

The inmates, Sumit Bihari and Shobhavan Rana, were charged with murder and lodged in the jail since the last two and five years respectively. Rana was arrested in an alleged human sacrifice incident, involving two children, at Sindheikela while Sumit Bihari had killed a toddler by throwing him against a well on Kesinga Hospital premises.

On Saturday night, one under-trial left the ward on the pretext of going to the toilet while the other said he was going to give a mosquito coil to an inmate. They then escaped by climbing a 40-ft high wall of the prison with the help of a ladder that was kept in a locked room.

As the duo reportedly had basic computer knowledge, they were engaged by jail officials to do data entry work in exchange for some remuneration. The UTPs possibly found the place where the keys of the room were kept through the CCTV display screen, which was in the same room where they operated the computers, sources said.

Jailer Chaitanya Pradhan had filed a complaint with Titilagarh police following which raids were conducted at various places in Balangir and neighbouring districts on Sunday. “Three teams have also been formed under the supervision of Titlagarh SDPO to nab the UTPs on the run,” Balangir SP Khilari Rishikesh D told the media.