Two prisoners dug tunnel to escape from Delhi's Tihar Jail late on Saturday night
Two prisoners dug a 10-foot tunnel under a wall in the dead of night to escape from Delhi's Tihar jail, one of the country's most high security prisons.
One of them, 19-year-old Faizan, was caught as he got stuck in a sewer line that was part of their obstacle course to freedom. His 18-year-old companion Javed, known as an expert at digging through walls, managed to run away. The Lieutenant Governor has asked for a report on the incident within a week.
Both Faizan and Javed were in jail for burglary, say the police.
On Saturday night, the two men scaled two 13-foot walls and managed to dig a tunnel under a 16-foot high, two feet thick wall.
Then they entered a sewage pipe to get into the residential complex of the prison.
The police say Faizan got stuck ian the sewer but Javed went on to climb another wall to enter a park in the Director General's residential complex and casually walked out.
The jail authorities realized they were missing during the Sunday morning roll call. On searching the complex, they found the tunnel and soon, a search team managed to catch up with Faizan.
After hours of looking for Javed, the jail authorities called the police.
Javed has been booked in three robberies in South Delhi. The police say he met Faizan in jail and planned the escape.
Tihar jail, which is one of Asia's largest such facilities, houses more than 14,000 prisoners including "VIP inmates" like politicians and businessmen.
Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has asked the Delhi Police to investigate how it happened, look into possible lapses and review security in Delhi prisons. The order comes in the middle of Mr Jung's ugly power tussle with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, reflected currently in the fight for the control of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The High Court today ruled in favour of Mr Jung's nominee MK Meena and rejected the Kejriwal government's petition to stop him from entering his office.