PRISONER FLEES COVID WARD IN CHITTOOR

A 51-year-old remand prisoner, who was undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Chittoor for Covid-19, gave the slip to the escort police and escaped from the hospital early on Wednesday. The incident came to light on Thursday.

According to the police, the remand prisoner, a vagabond, was arrested in connection with the murder of another person in Palamaner in July last year. He was remanded to judicial custody and lodged in the district jail, from where he was shifted to the Covid ward in Piler sub-jail after he developed symptoms last week.

“The prisoner, who was tested positive for Covid-19, developed high fever four days ago, following which the jail authorities shifted him to the district hospital for treatment. On Wednesday, at around 7.30 am, he came out of his ward on the pretext of getting some tea and escaped from the hospital,”, Chittoor DSP K. Eswara Reddy told Deccan Chronicle.

The DSP said the escort police was assigned to keep an eye on the prisoner, but they had to wait outside the hospital ward as per Covid-19 protocol. This prevented them from tracking the prisoner’s movements inside the hospital.

“When the escort police checked with hospital staff at around 8 am, they found that the remand prisoner was missing. They immediately informed the seniors, who forwarded a complaint to the Chittoor one town police and efforts are on to nab the prisoner,” the DSP said.

The district police wing has alerted all the police stations in the district and tightened security at the inter-district borders of AP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. About 10 special teams were formed to nab the escaped prisoner.