The Meghalaya government has set up two panels to investigate a jailbreak and the subsequent lynching of four of the six fugitives by villagers in the State’s West Jaintia Hills district.
Stating this at the 60-member Assembly on September 12, Meghalaya Home Minister Lakhmen Rymbui said a mob of about 5,000 people battered the four escapees — three undertrial prisoners and a convict — to death on September 11, less than 24 hours after they escaped from the Jowai district jail.
Five Jowai jail officials, including head warden C. Kynjing, have been arrested in connection with the jailbreak, he informed the House.
“A total of five undertrial prisoners and a convict had overpowered the jail staff and injured them before fleeing. A policeman was hospitalised after he was attacked with a sharp weapon,” Mr. Rymbui said.
The Minister said an additional superintendent of police and an additional district magistrate have been entrusted with inquiring into the jailbreak and the circumstances leading to it. Another officer has been deputed to look into what led to the lynching.
Mr. Rymbui was noncommittal about any action to be taken against those involved in the lynching of the four jail escapees in Shangpung village. The four included I Love You Talang, who was accused of killing two taxi drivers.
Ramesh Dkhar, who was also accused of the murder, manage to escape the mob. He was recaptured from the Shangpung area on Monday afternoon, West Jaintia Hills district’s Superintendent of Police, B.D. Marak said.
“Some locals spotted him and informed the police. Our team rushed to the spot to re-arrest him before any untoward incident could happen,” he said.
Marsanki Tariang, the sixth prisoner convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, is still on the loose, the police said. He had parted ways with the other five soon after escaping from the jail.
Jailbreaks are quite frequent in Meghalaya.
On June 22, murder convict Shiningstar Pala escaped after he was asked by the jail authorities to wash an ambulance used to ferry prisoners. In January 2021, Small Phawa who was convicted in a POCSO case and Kwall Laloo who was serving a jail term for murder, escaped after they were taken to the Jowai Civil Hospital.
