Chhattisgarh jailbreak: 110 Maoists escape

Amitabh Tiwari / TNN / Dec 17, 2007, 00:00 IST

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Maoist Sujeet overpowered a jail guard in Dantewada jail, snatched his service weapon and managed to set free 294 inmates, including 110 Maoists.

Chhattisgarh jailbreak: 110 Maoists escape

RAIPUR: Maoists no longer need to storm jails to set their comrades free; their fellow travellers inside prisons, brushing aside a demoralised police force and a listless administration, have taken up the challenge with gusto and are executing it with finesse.
Late on Sunday afternoon, around 4.35pm, Maoist Sujeet overpowered a jail guard in Dantewada jail, snatched his service weapon, and managed to set free 294 inmates, nearly 110 of who were Maoists or Naxal activists.
According to Dantewada police, Sujeet, who is a hardcore Maoist and seems to have had guerrilla training in the forests of Chhattisgarh and adjoining states, caught the jail guard by surprise and snatched his rifle. Just when he fired at the guard, his accomplice is said to have rushed towards the main gate and overpowered another guard, taking complete charge of the jail.
A prison source said Sujeet single-handedly overpowered two guards and it was only after that, that the other Maoists joined him.

Regardless of the manner in which the escape plot was hatched, the jailbreak was a complete mockery of prison security in a state that is supposedly grappling with leftwing violence for the past several years.
One inmate was injured in the firing and, along with the two guards, is in a Jagdalpur hospital where their condition is said to be stable.
A top police officer told TOI that District Superintendent of Police Rahul Sharma was on leave.

"The attack was well planned and the two Maoists must have taken at least a couple of weeks to execute the attack," he said. "This indicates total intelligence failure in a region badly hit by the Maoist scourge," he added.
Director General (Jail) Sant Kumar Paswan told TOI that he was on his way to Dantewada and said the Maoists had escaped with one Insas rifle, two muskets and two 303 rifles.

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