Srinagar, Aug 26: The manhunt for two inmates who escaped from Central Jail Srinagar on August 23 ended in Rajasthan on Wednesday, with Police, assisted by Rajasthan police, tracing and arresting the duo in Rajgarh area of Churu district.
The two inmates have been identified as Farman Khan, a resident of Rajasthan, and Mukhtar Ahmad Gojar, a resident of Anantnag, who were arrested under the POSCO Act and lodged in Central Jail Srinagar.
As per the police, they managed to flee from the jail on August 23 after scaling the front side of the prison wall. Their re-arrest has been confirmed by police, officials said.A senior police officer told Rising Kashmir that police teams had already left for Rajasthan to take custody of the two inmates and bring them back to Srinagar.
“Both the inmates have been successfully traced and apprehended in Rajgarh, Churu district by Srinagar police, with the assistance of Rajasthan Police. Our teams had already left for Rajasthan and will take their custody before bringing them back to Srinagar,” the officer said.Following the escape, an alert was sounded across Srinagar, while police launched searches at multiple locations to track down the inmates.
A look-out notice was also issued, carrying details of the duo and alerting agencies to their possible movement.The search operation was subsequently expanded beyond Jammu and Kashmir as police worked on various leads to establish the route taken by the escaped inmates.
Coordination with Rajasthan Police eventually helped Srinagar Police locate and apprehend them in Churu district.The development marks a major breakthrough for the security agencies, which had been conducting a sustained search operation since the inmates escaped from the high-security facility.
Meanwhile, jail authorities had already ordered an in-house inquiry to ascertain how the two inmates managed to escape and whether any security or procedural lapses contributed to the incident.
The inquiry is expected to examine security arrangements, surveillance mechanisms, inmate movement and the deployment of personnel on duty at the time of the escape.
The apprehension of the duo now brings the immediate manhunt to an end, while the inquiry is likely to focus on the circumstances that enabled the escape and whether anyone assisted the inmates in fleeing the facility.
