Prisoner flees from Amritsar hospital; SI, 3 ASIs booked

AMRITSAR: An inmate of the Amritsar Central Jail, who was admitted to the isolation ward of the local Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after he tested positive for Covid-19, escaped on Monday night by giving the on-duty policemen the slip. Five cops, including a sub-inspector (SI) and three assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs), have been booked for negligence.

The 33-year-old undertrial, who is facing a case of robbery in Tarn Taran district, was tested negative for the coronavirus in his second report which came on Tuesday, Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Jugal Kishore said.

“At 11pm on Monday, Partap Singh, the undertrial, told the two policemen on duty that he wanted to go to toilet. The cops opened his handcuffs. He escaped by breaking a window of the toilet. When he didn’t came out for long, the policemen and hospital staff got suspicious and broke open the door only to find that he had escaped,” said Dr Shiv Charan, the head of the medicine department at the hospital.

Police said Partap was brought on production warrant by the Chatiwind police in connection with a murder case.

Majitha Road police station in-charge inspector Jaspal Singh said police teams have been deployed to nab him.

Last week, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, a dreaded gangster, had tested positive for the contagious disease in Gurdaspur, but his second and third reports were found negative. He was brought on production warrant by Batala police from the Patiala jail.