According to eyewitnesses, under-trial Sakil Ahmad scaled the jail boundary wall and was trying to flee. Some locals nabbed him later, said sources.
"While the police officials were searching for the prisoner, we found him and brought him to the jail," said a local resident.
However, the jail superintendent refuted the claims that he was nabbed by locals and said that Sakil was caught immediately by security personnel near the jail.
"The prisoner used a pipeline to climb the wall and jumped to the other side. But we managed to nab him within 5 minutes. There is no truth in the claims that he was caught by locals," said Govind Chandra Soura, Superintendent, Jajpur sub-jail.
Sakil, a Bangladeshi national, was arrested in the year 2016 for traveling to India without a passport.
"I had come to India in search of work and was arrested for no reason last year. I have been trying to go back home. I admit that it was a mistake to scale the wall for which I was beaten up by the police today," said Sakil.
Though embarrassed police have started investigation into the slip-up incident, reports suggest the escapee prisoner, who was a rape accused, was brought to the jail around two weeks ago. The undertrial prisoner belongs to Bhuban area in the district. On 13 December evening, in a filmy style, he escaped by climbing the boundary wall with the help of a lungi.
However, the runaway plot from jail was captured in a CCTV camera installed on a residential premises near the jail. The video was captured at around 5 PM in the evening.
This jail-escape brings into glare the severe lacunae in jail security in the State. First, the prisoner made a neat escape. Secondly, authorities have to bank on a private CCTV to detect the escape. All such flip-flops have raised pertinent questions on safety and security of jail premises in the State. Moreover, eyebrows raised as how come a prisoner could climb a plain wall. Furthermore, the timing of escape looks curious as it's the time when inmates enter their cells, and the jail staff maintain vigilance. The circumstances of this jail-escape seeds more suspicion.