Four prisoners escape from C'garh jail

Four prisoners, including two facing trials in murder and rape cases, escaped from a jail in Chhattisgarh's Mungeli district by breaking the lock of their barrack and using a rope made of bedsheets to scale the high wall, police said on Saturday.

As per preliminary investigation, the incident took place on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday at the sub-jail located in Mugeli town, said Ashish Arora, Mungeli City Superintendent of Police (CSP).

The prisoners, identified as Tarun Kewat alias Chhotu, Dhiraj, Idal alias Indradhwaj and Suresh Patel, broke the lock of their barrack and then used a rope made from bed sheets and clothes to scale the 20-feet wall of the prison, he said.

Kewat, a native of Kota area in neighbouring Bilaspur district, was facing trial in a rape case while Dhiraj, a resident of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, is an accused in a murder case, he said.

"Besides, Idal and Patel were facing trials in a theft case and a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, respectively," the CSP added.

Efforts are on to trace the four prisoners, Arora said.