Times News Network
Bangalore, Apr 28: It was a scene straight out of the movies. An undertrial facing murder and molestation charges gave escort personnel the slip on Wednesday after his accomplices threatened policemen with a revolver and fled in an autorickshaw outside the Majestic bus terminal on Wednesday morning.
The glaring lapse on the part of escort personnel was exposed when they actually waited in court till 6 pm, hoping the fugitive would turn up. They informed the city police about the escape only 12 hours later, at night.
The fugitive, Vijendra, was being escorted from Mandya sub-jail to a city court on Nrupatunga Road for a hearing on molestation charges. Two District Armed Reserve (DAR) constables was escorting Vijendra.
Vijendra was arrested with a few others for a murder in 2004 by the Subramanyapura police. He was shifted along with three accomplices from Central Jail, Parappana Agrahara, to Mandya sub-jail in October 2005 for security reasons (their rivals were in Central Jail).
Around 11 am on Wednesday, DAR constables Mahesh and Shekar, one of them armed with a rifle, escorted a handcuffed Vijendra in a KSRTC bus and got off at the Majestic terminal.
Vijendra then got into a parked autorickshaw with a person in the passenger seat claiming it was his brother and he wanted to spend a few minutes with him.
When the constables, who were standing near the auto, asked Vijendra to step out, his accomplice brandished a revolver and the trio sped away in the auto. The constables promptly headed towards the court and waited till 6 pm.
Before checking some places in Mandya, the duo also made enquiries at Maddur. They informed their seniors 12 hours later and a complaint was lodged with the Upparpet police around 11 pm that night. "It is a glaring lapse.
It was a busy road and the escort personnel did not even raise an alarm. There were traffic policemen nearby. Police could have put up roadblocks immediately and tracked the fugitive and his accomplices.
An inquiry will look into any involvement of the escort personnel in the incident," a senior police officer said. For the record, DAR constables Mahesh and Shekar have been suspended and an inquiry has been ordered by the Mandya police top-brass.
A staffer in Mandya sub-jail said Vijendra had been kept in isolation and escorted for hearings at city courts at least 20 times. "We never had a problem with him in this jail," the staffer said.