A knife and a regular garden hose. That’s what two jailbirds used as they fled the high security Jaipur Central Jail in the small hours of Saturday. For a prison already grappling with security lapses, the jailbreak has once again called into question its security apparatus.
According to the police, two undertrials identified as Naval Kishore Mahawar from Rajasthan’s Karauli and Anees Kumar from Uttar Pradesh allegedly planned the escape carefully, using the knife to slowly cut through the bars on their prison cell. Then they scaled the jail’s 27-foot wall using the garden hose, stepped over the high-tension wire around the wall, and leapt down, police said.
Both Mahawar and Kumar are in prison for theft – the former since September 17 and the latter since September 15. “Anees is a habitual offender who has been jailed five times before. We suspect he masterminded the plan,” Additional Director General (Prisons) Rupinder Singh, adding that their lean bodies helped them squeeze through the tight space on the prison window.
While Anees was eventually rearrested, Mahawar is still absconding. The jailbreak spells more trouble for a prison already under for alleged security lapses. Earlier this week, an Instagram reel, purportedly shot and posted by inmates within the prison, led to a police probe. In May, four of five inmates of the jail who were taken for a medical examination were found gallivanting around the city, leading the police to order an inquiry.
