Angul: An under-trial prisoner accused of murdering four persons escaped from the court premises here while he was about to be produced before the magistrate court Friday . He was Jhasketan Rout alias Jharu. The accused fled the spot by breaking the grill of a toilet air-exit inside the court premises. A special team has been formed to catch Jharu, police said.
The Jarapada police arrested Jhasketan February 12, 2016. After intense grilling, he reportedly confessed to have committed the crime.
Police said the bodies of Jogeswar Sahu and Hirankshya Sahu of Kusakila village near Jarapada in this district had been exhumed from a 15-16ft deep pit behind the village school. Family members of the two dead alleged that Jhasketan was behind the killing.
During interrogation, Jhasketan confessed to the police that he did the crime. He also confessed to have murdered a woman, Abala Gadnayak, and her nephew Kumuda Sahu of Kukurpeta area off Chhendipada in a similar manner and buried the bodies in a pit near the same school.
Since then, he was in jail as an under-trial. He was to be produced before the court Friday . “He said he wanted to go to the loo while at the court premises, and then we found he has escaped by breaking the toilet grill,” police said.
