5 undertrial prisoners escape from Assam's Morigaon jail, search on

Morigaon: Five undertrial prisoners escaped from the Morigaon District Jail in Assam in the early hours of Friday, officials said.

Morigaon's District Commissioner Devashish Sharma told PTI that the jailbreak took place between 1 am and 2 am.

"All the five undertrials were accused of cases filed under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. They were arrested from Morigaon and Sonitpur districts," he said.

The inmates broke the iron grille of their cell and then used bed sheets, blankets and lungis to make a rope and climbed down from the 20-feet-high boundary wall of the jail, another official said.

A search is underway to arrest them, he said.

Sharma said a magisterial inquiry was ordered into the incident.

The inquiry will also look into if there were any lapses on the part of the jail security personnel, he said.

"Of the five persons, three were arrested for cases registered at the Laharighat police station, and one each from Moirabari and Tezpur police station areas," he added.