Murder convict escapes from Dhule prison, rearrested

Nashik: The Dhule police on Friday night rearrested a 55-year-old murder convict after he escaped from the Dhule district jail (open prison) while working in the agricultural fields attached to the facility a day earlier. The convict, Bhikan Najir Pinjari, was serving life term in a kidnapping and murder case. The open-prison system was introduced at the Dhule jail two years ago.After receiving information that the convict, identified as Bhikan Najir Pinjari, had reached Pimpalgaon in Nashik district, the Dhule police alerted their counterparts in Pimpalgaon, who detained him around 9pm. The police said the escapee was traced and arrested within 24 hours of an FIR being registered.According to jail officials, Pinjari was working with seven other inmates in the agricultural fields on Thursday when he slipped away unnoticed. When the other prisoners realised he was missing, they informed senior jail officers, following which a search was launched, and the jail authorities filed a complaint with the Dhule city police. Meanwhile, an FIR was registered under Section 262 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for resisting or obstructing lawful apprehension.Sub-inspector Milind Navgire, who is investigating the case, said Pinjari walked towards Pimpalgaon, where his brother lived. Police contacted his relatives in Niphad soon after the escape, asking them to alert authorities if he made any contact with them. "In the evening, Pinjari's younger brother told us that he had called from a particular phone number. We then instructed the brother to meet Pinjari and keep him engaged till help arrived," Navgire said.When Pinjari became aggressive, his brother stepped aside and alerted the police that he might leave at any moment. Dhule police then coordinated with their Pimpalgaon counterparts, who detained him till the Dhule police team reached the spot.The police said Pinjari was wearing a white trouser and a black T-shirt, the clothes he might have borrowed from someone in the jail, which allowed him to walk unnoticed all the way to Pimpalgaon.