Agartala, Oct 24 (IANS): Three officials, including superintendent of the Tripura Central Jail, were suspended for negligence after three prisoners, all serving life imprisonment, escaped from the prison, officials said here on Monday.

"Three jail officials, including superintendent of Tripura Central Jail Santosh Bahadur, were suspended on Sunday night for dereliction of duty," an official of Home (Jail) Department said.

He said the action was taken after three convicts -- Milan Debbarma, 28; Swarna Kumar Tripura, 22; and Rabindra Tripura, 24 -- fled from the jail in Bishalgarh Sepahijala district on Friday night.

The convicted criminals were serving life-imprisonment for different crimes, including murder, since 2012.

Sepahijala district police chief Sudipta Das said a massive search operation was on in different locations and all the state's 74 police stations were on alert.

"BSF (Border Security Force) was also asked to keep a close watch on the borders to prevent the convicts from crossing over to Bangladesh," Das added.

State Chief Secretary Yashpal Singh and Director General of Police K. Nagaraj on Sunday visited the central jail, 25 km south of here, to study the existing jail security and to take corrective measures.

"The two top officials found some loopholes in the management of the central jail and its security. They have asked the jail officials to make additional foolproof arrangements to tighten the vigil in and around the jail," the official added.

The central jail, which was established 142 years ago (in 1874) in Agartala, by the then king Maharaja Birchandra Manikya Bahadur, was shifted to Bishalgarh from Agartala in 2013.