Jaipur jail breach: Med referrals enabled hotel stays for inmates

Jaipur: A day after Jaipur police arrested 13 people — including four inmates of Jaipur Central Jail and five police personnel — in connection with a brazen criminal racket that allowed inmates to spend time in hotels under the guise of medical referrals, a primary probe hints at a key inmate suspected of orchestrating the operation.According to officials, the inmate forged close ties with jail staff and bribed them to procure fake medical referral slips from the prison doctor. These slips enabled prisoners to be temporarily released under the pretext of treatment at SMS Hospital.Once the referrals were secured, cooperative guards were allegedly assigned escort duty. Instead of the hospital, inmates were taken to hotels across the city to meet relatives or enjoy time outside prison.On Saturday, inmates Rafiq Bakri, Bhanwar Yadav, Ankit Bansal, and Karan Gupta were taken out citing medical reasons but were later found in two hotels. Rafiq and Bhanwar were at one hotel, while Ankit and Karan were tracked to Hotel Belacasa near Jaipur Airport."We are examining the jail's internal processes related to medical referrals to determine where protocol was flouted and identify the officials involved," a senior police officer said.The hotel-prison racket has sparked a political storm, with former CM Ashok Gehlot accusing the BJP-led govt of failing to maintain law and order. "Rajasthan is seeing a surge in organised crime under BJP rule. Now convicts are walking out on fake medical slips to meet wives and girlfriends in hotels. This exposes deep rot in the system," Gehlot said, citing past incidents of assassination threats from jail.