'Blast accused could have fled same day the tunnel was found'

A senior crime branch official said today that the Ahmedabad bomb blasts accused, who had dug a 216-feet long tunnel in Sabarmati Central Jail, could have managed to escape if it was not unearthed on time.
"Had the tunnel not been discovered on the same day, the accused would have fled that day itself, since it was a Sunday (February 10), when the barrack closes early and opens only at 6 am next day," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) A K Sharma said.
He said that it became clear from interrogation of the accused interrogation that jail officials too were involved in the incident.

"When the tunnel was discovered, two of the accused, Shaduli Abdul Kalim and Shibli Abdul Kalim were digging inside, while Zahid Sheikh and Mohammad Ansar Razzak were standing guard outside," he said.
Sharma said the accused had planned to escape to the forests in Halol in Panchmahal district.
"After their escape, they had planned to meet after a month by using a common e-mail account and password," he said.

Cash worth Rs 5500 was recovered from their possession he said.
Other items recovered from them include muddy clothes of jail inmates, an axe, four cement sheets, five wooden planks, a rubber pipe, five pens, four pencil batteries, a screwdriver, three hacksaw blades, two keys and nails.

On February 10, jail authorities discovered the tunnel under barrack number four.
Sixty-eight Ahmedabad bomb blasts accused are lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail, of which 14 are lodged in the Chhota Chakkar barrack.