Angul: Even as the escape of an undertrial, accused of four murders, from police custody from local court premises will complete 25 days Monday, police seem to have made no headway.
The accused, Jhasaketan Rout, broke through the asbestos roof of the cell on Angul court premises and escaped from police custody May 18 when the trials were going on in the two murder cases.
He is allegedly involved in 2016 Kushakila double murders and a murder of a woman and her nephew in Kukurpeta village.
The inability of police in arresting the absconding undertrial is indicative of their ineptness and deteriorating law and order situation in the town, a report said Sunday.
A murder accused absconding from police custody in broad daylight has also raised questions about the district police’s efficiency and policing.
What’s more appalling, the district police have even failed to nab the criminals recently involved in petty crimes.
The police tried to wash off their hands by suspending five police officials who were involved in court duty that day. A constable was arrested and produced in court for handing over a mobile phone to the accused on the fateful day. However, despite all these efforts the police have failed to trace the undertrail.
The police have even carried out midnight raids as well as search operations at various places but there is no trace of Rout. The district police had first raided his parental home in Kushakila village and later the houses of his in-laws and relatives.
Disappointed, the police extended their dragnet to other parts of the state. Special squads were formed with senior police officers to carry out raids in Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Keonjhar and Jajpur which continued for 10-12 days. But these efforts bore no fruit.
Later, the police formed a separate squad and sent it outside the state. The squad raided various hideouts in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand but again had to return empty handed.
When contacted, SDPO Harihar Pani said efforts were on to nab the fugitive.
PNN