Teen prisoners scaled two walls, dug 10-foot long tunnel

Teenagers Javed and Faizan scaled two 13-foot high walls and managed to dig a 10-foot tunnel under a 16-foot high and two-foot thick wall in their escape bid from Tihar Jail.

Faizan, however, was unable to make it out of a drain due to injury, while Javed crossed the drain, scaled another wall to enter a park and casually walk out.

The drain went to the residential complex of Tihar Jail, while the park is in the residential complex of Tihar Jail Director General Alok Kumar Verma.

Tihar Jail authorities said Javed and Faizan were present during the morning headcount on June 27, but were found missing during the evening roll call before jail lock-up of ward 4 in jail 7.

“An alarm was raised when they were not found in their cells. Every ward and barrack was checked. A team of jail 7 conducted a whole-night search and apprehended Faizan,” jail 7’s superintendent O P Bhatti stated in his complaint to Delhi Police.

On searching the jail complex, the authorities found the tunnel and managed to apprehended Faizan from the drain. After continuing the search for several hours and failing to nab Javed, the jail authorities approached Hari Nagar police station in west Delhi.

Faizan told police that they scaled two 13-foot high walls of jail 7 on Saturday night and entered the compound of jail 8.  They then dug a tunnel under the 16-foot high wall of jail 8 and to reach the drain. Faizan also claimed that he never met Javed before being jailed.

‘No tunnel dug’

Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident of ‘wall break, digging of tunnel and escape’, but Tihar Jail authorities claimed that Javed and Faizan did not dig any tunnel.

“They tried to escape by scaling jail walls. They took help of debris dumped by the Public Works Department workers,” said Tihar Jail Deputy Inspector General Mukesh Prasad.

Prasad said an initial probe has revealed that Javed and Faizan climbed the debris piled up near a wall of jail 7 after which one of them got on to the others’ shoulder and reached the top of another wall.

“He then pulled the other one with the help of a towel,” Prasad added. Prasad said after jumping over the walls, they drilled a hole on a wall in jail 8 and jumped into the drain.

While Javed managed to get out of it and climb another wall to walk to his freedom, Faizan was stuck in the drain due to injuries in the legs.

Sources said the jail authorities conducted a search operation for almost 24 hours before they approached police. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpendra Kumar said a case was filed with Hari Nagar police station on Sunday and several teams have been formed to nab Javed.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint from Bhatti. A case under sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant) and 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code has been fied with Hari Nagar police station. “Several teams have been formed to nab Javed,” said Kumar.