Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate police Tuesday announced a reward for the person who provides them information pertaining to the whereabouts of notorious criminal Shahjahan Khan alias Patu, who escaped from police custody while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack March 5.
Twin city police commissioner Yogesh Bahadur Khurania Tuesday told the media they will give a reward of `5,000 to the person who provides them information on the whereabouts of Shahjahan Khan.
The police commissioner also said Khan’s photographs have also been circulated to all police stations in various districts.
Khan’s relatives may have helped his escape, suspect the police.
Police sources said, family members of Khan, a native of Puri, had paid him a visit at SCBMCH March 4 ostensibly to inquire into his health and had offered him fruits and some dry-cleaned clothes. Among those who met Khan were his first wife, his elder brother’s wife and his younger brother Hania, said the sources.
Khan was arrested after he was injured in a police encounter near Ghatikia on the intervening night of March 2 and 3. Having been hit by a bullet in his left leg during the encounter, Khan could not have escaped entirely on his own, said police officials.
Hania was detained and is being interrogated by cops who are trying to know if he helped his elder brother flee the hospital.
Interestingly, Patu had earlier fled police custody while he was being treated at Capital Hospital here after being arrested on charges of firing during a loot at Bhimatangi.
According to sources, there are 17 different criminal cases registered against Patu.