On the run for 17 years, prisoner who fled during Maoist attack on jail arrested

An undertrial prisoner, who had escaped from a sub-jail in R Udayagiri jail in 2006 and was on the run since then, has been arrested by Mohana police from Kirama village in Gajapati district on Thursday.

The accused has been identified as Purnachandra Malabisoi, a resident of Malasapadara village under Mohana police station in the district.

As per reports, Purnachandra was an undertrial prisoner in R Udayagiri sub-jail in a family dispute case. However, some Maoists broke open the jail on March 24, 2006. Taking advantage of the situation, some prisoners along with Purnachandra had escaped from the jail.

Following that incident, arrest warrant was issued against Purnachandra and police were in search of him. However, he managed to be on the run for 17-long-year.

Eventually, after getting a tip-off about Purnachandra’s whereabouts from a reliable source, Mohana police conducted a raid and arrested him.  

Notably, more than 80 Maoists had attacked the sub-jail in March, 2006 and freed its prisoners. The ultras had killed two policemen.