2008 serial blast accused dig tunnel to escape prison

A bid to escape from Sabarmati Central Jail here by the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast accused was foiled after the prison authorities found an 26-feet long tunnel dug by them behind their barracks.

The tunnel was found behind the toilet of barrack no. 4 where 14 accused in the 2008 serial blast were lodged. Jail Inspector General P C Thakur said that three persons have confessed before him that they had dug up the tunnel. "When I asked the inmates of the barrack about the tunnel, three of them have confessed that they had dug it. They all are engineers, one is a mechanical engineer, while other two are civil engineers," Thakur told reporters outside the Sabarmati Central Jail. He further added that the jail was built during British period and it was impossible for a prisoner to escape by digging a tunnel under the prison walls.

Thakur refused to divulge the names of the accused as the matter was under investigation. "An FIR has been filed by jail authorities and investigation was on to find out the accused and where the security lapses took place," jail superintendent R J Pargi said. The tunnel was discovered by the jail authorities during routine checking in the barracks. They found the earth behind the toilets of barrack no.4 was soft. The prisoners had been cultivating a small garden on a small plot behind the toilet.