2 theft accused escape from Ludhiana juvenile home
LUDHIANA : Two theft accused lodged in a juvenile home at Shimlapuri locality of Ludhiana escaped in the wee hours of Wednesday after cutting window grilles and jumping a 15-foot high boundary wall.
Incidentally, none of the eight CCTV cameras was working when the two minors escaped.
The incident took place at 3.30am, the juvenile home staff said. The juveniles, aged between 16 and 17, are accused of theft in different cases. One of the escapees is of Tajpur Road, Ludhiana, and was brought to the juvenile home on January 5. The other is from Sangrur and was brought here on January 7.
Now, 67 inmates, excluding the two who fled, are lodged at the juvenile home. The escapees were put in the barrack 7 on the first floor with 17 others.
The police said other inmates were not aware of the incident.
A daily diary report (DDR) was registered against the two at the Shimlapuri police station.
Shimlapuri station house officer (SHO) Mohammad Jamil said, “Two guards stationed outside the barracks came to know about the incident when the juveniles were jumping the boundary wall. By the time they raised an alarm, the inmates had escaped. The guards couldn’t enter the barracks as they are barred from doing so as per the high court orders.”
“They cut the iron grille of a window in their barracks. No sharp-edged weapon has been recovered yet. We are trying to find out how the boys managed to jump the 15-foot high boundary wall,” Jamil said.
Superintendent of juvenile home Raj Kumar refused to comment, citing ongoing probe.
8 CCTV CAMERAS INSTALLED IN 2015
After four inmates facing criminal charges fled the juvenile home in May 2015, the authorities installed eight cameras on the juvenile home premises.
Since these cameras were nonfunctional on Wednesday the police did not get footage of the escape. The juvenile home staff said requests were marked to the headquarters to get the cameras repaired, but to no avail.