Odisha: Undertrial prisoner flees while being taken to court in State Capital

Bhubaneswar: An undertrial prisoner (UTP) who was in police custody managed to escape today from the court campus in Bhubaneswar. Following this, police launched a manhunt to nab the fugitive.

According to a source, the UTP was previously lodged in Bhubaneswar Special Jail at Jharpada locality. He was taken to the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court here for an appearance earlier in the day.

The UTP is a history-sheeter and several cases are pending against him in different police stations.

It is pertinent to mention here that in September the Jharpada special jail authorities had mistakenly released a rape accused on bail instead of the one who was lodged in the jail in an alleged cheating case. Both were UTPs and they had similar names.

The jail authorities realised their mistake on September 23 when the rape accused was to be produced before the court for trial. However, the jail officials caught him on the outskirts of the city.

The prison directorate had taken a serious note of the negligence and initiated a probe.