11 prisoners escape from mental hospital by making hole in wall

HYDERABAD: In a scene straight out of a Telugu potboiler, 11 prison ward patients of the Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda managed to escape by making a hole in the ward's wall in the wee hours of Tuesday. However, police managed to nab eight of the culprits, while three are still on the run. After Tuesday midnight, one of the patients, Shahabuddin Qureishi, with the support of other inmates in the prison ward, started creating havoc in the ward by burning case sheet files.
After the entire ward was engulfed in smoke, Qureishi with the help of other inmates created a 2X1.5 feet hole in the eight-inch thick wall of the rear portion by repeatedly punching the wall with an oxygen cylinder. Meanwhile, as the entire ward was engulfed in smoke, the hospital staff decided to shift the 60 inmates into another ward with the help of eight armed reserve police personnel. While the hospital staff began shifting the inmates into another ward, Qureishi and 10 others escaped through the hole which they had managed to make at the other end of the ward DCP, West Zone, V Satyanarayana said.
After the escaped from the hospital, the security personnel managed to nab one of the 11 absconding inmates on the hospital premises and as the 10 others had already left the compound, they alerted the SR Nagar police. Six of the prisoners __B Istari, M Gopal of Adilabad, P Nagaraju, J Swami of Nalgonda, D Pullaiah from Warangal, N Kanakaiah from Karimnagar __ were nabbed from various places near the hospital and Basith was nabbed at Santosh Nagar on Tuesday night.
Three more prisoners, including Jeevaratnam, a murder accused from Warangal prison, Tirumalesh from Kadapa central prison, who is also an accused in a murder case and Shahabuddin Qureishi from Nampally were still at large. Police suspect that Qureishi might have planned and executed the operation prison ward breach. Qureishi was angry with the hospital staff as they did not allow his wife to meet him on Monday night because of which he started behaving in a violent manner and burnt the case sheets to divert their attention before making a hole in the wall, the DCP said. During preliminary probe, police discovered that after escaping from the hospital, Qureishi went to his second wife's house and escaped with her from there in a Tavera (AP 09 BC 7909). It is suspected that he was going to Mumbai and a manhunt is launched to nab him. Police also picked up a woman from SR Nagar for helping Qureishi in getting hold of the vehicle.
Qureishi from Chanchalguda prison. was arrested by the Abids police in an NDPS case and was sent to jail on October 15. There was also a 498-A case pending against him filed by his first wife. According to prison chief B Saidaiah, Quereshi had exhibited violent behaviour in the last two months, he was involved in five such cases. The prison doctor recommended that he should be taken to the Mental Hospital as he needs psychiatric treatment as an in-patient. Due to his behaviour at the jail, the authorities had sent him to the Mental Hospital on November 23. SR Nagar police have registered a case under various sections 353 (Obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty), 435 (Arson), 224 (Resistance by a person to his lawful apprehension) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Prior to the incident, locals, who heard a pounding noise at the hospital, alerted SR Nagar police about it, but police dismissed it as a routine affair. Not just that, immediately after Qureishi's escape, police also failed to alert Nampally police where the prisoner has his house. Due to the negligence, Qureishi managed to reach Nampally house and escape from there with his wife in a four-wheeler.