Convict serving life sentence escapes from Yerawada open prison

Pune: A convict serving a life sentence escaped from the Yerawada open prison sometime on Friday afternoon, which officers said could be out of fear of an inquiry into a mobile phone found in the prison farm area a few days ago.The escaped prisoner has been identified as Santosh Laxman Bhingare of Pachwad village in Wai taluka of Satara district.Prison officer Nagnath Mahadev Bhanavase (55) of Manjari lodged a complaint with the Yerawada police on Saturday evening. The incident took place on May 8 between 1.30 pm and 6pm. The open prison does not have walls.Senior inspector Anjum Bagwan of the Yerawada police told TOI, "Bhingare had been sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case registered at Bhuinj police station in Satara district. He had been transferred from Kolhapur Open District Prison to Yerawada Open District Prison on Oct 19, 2025. He had been assigned work at the prison barber shop."On May 8, the prison superintendent and senior prison officials were inspecting the agricultural section when they found an abandoned mobile phone without a SIM card near the mulberry garden. Bhingare and another inmate were to be questioned regarding the phone. After dinner, Bhingare reportedly told prison staff that he was going back to the barrack. However, when he was called again for questioning, he was not found there."According to prison officials, Bhingare thought that he would be placed in the walled prison again instead of the open prison as the mobile was found and a fresh case would be filed in this regard," Bagwan said.The complaint states that a search was conducted in the prison farm and surrounding areas, but Bhingare could not be traced.