13 prisoners escape from dedicated coronavirus facility in Haryana

Thirteen prisoners escaped from a jail in Haryana's Rewari, a dedicated facility for COVID-19 positive inmates in the state, officials said on Sunday.

Four police teams have been formed to trace the prisoners while Rewari Police is also coordinating with police departments of neighbouring districts including Narnaul, a senior officer said.

The incident took place on the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday and some of the escaped prisoners are convicted in cases of murder, rape, and dacoity, they said.

The prisoners, who were kept in a special section of the Rewari jail, cut an iron grill of the barrack in which they were lodged and used cloth from their bedding as a rope to escape, they added.

At present, the jail is functioning as a dedicated facility for COVID-19 positive prisoners in the state.

As many as 493 COVID positive undertrial prisoners from different parts of the state are lodged in the special section of the Rewari jail, which is in the final stages of construction, Rewari's Superintendent of Police, Abhishek Jorwal said over the phone.

Inmates from different Haryana jails are shifted to the facility for isolation and treatment once they test positive for coronavirus.

Thirteen prisoners have escaped. They were facing cases including murder, theft, dacoity and rape in Rewari and Mahendergarh. They were brought to Rewari from Narnaul jail, Jorwal said.

Jorwal said jail officials informed the police that during routine counting of prisoners in the morning, thirteen were found missing.

He said a case has been registered in the incident and negligence on part of the jail officials is being investigated.