India: Five prisoners escape from Gujarat jail amid lockdown

Surendranagar, May 13 (PTI) Five prisoners, including four facing trial for murder, escaped from a jail in Gujarat's Surendranagar district in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said.

They broke locks of the barrack where they were lodged in Dhrangadhra sub-jail and then escaped by climbing the prison wall, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dhrangadhra, Rajendra Devdha said.

Four of these prisoners - Nanji Devipujak, Santu Devipujak, Savji Devipujak, Dharam Devipujak - were facing trial for murder, while the fifth one, Prakash Kushwah, was accused in a theft case, he said.

"The five prisoners somehow managed to break locks of the barrack and then escaped after jumping off the prison wall. We have formed teams to nab them," Devdha said.

This is the second incident of jailbreak in Gujarat during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

On May 1, as many as 13 inmates escaped from a sub- jail in Dahod district. While nine of them were later nabbed, four are still at large, according to police.