Guards foil juveniles' escape attempt

Five juveniles tried to escape from their room by breaking a hole in the wall of Sewa Kutir, an observation home in north Delhi’s Kingsway Camp area on Sunday afternoon.

These boys, aged between 16 and 18, have also been involved in previous breakouts.

According to welfare officers at the observation home, the alertness of the private security guards foiled the juveniles’ escape plan.

“These boys have been kept in a separate room because they are in a habit of running away. So we have posted two guards outside their room,” said a welfare officer.

“It was the alertness of these guards which foiled the boys’ escape plan.”
The guards heard loudnoises coming out of the room around 3 pm on Sunday, added the welfare officer.

“When they peeped in, they saw two bricks lying on the floor. They felt that something was suspicious and called welfare officers,” he said.
When welfare officers entered the room, they saw juveniles digging a hole in the wall.

“They were digging the hole with the help of an iron grill taken out of a window,” said another welfare officer.

Observation home officialssaid the juveniles always make noise when they are executing a plan.

“It’s no surprise that the boys were singing songs this time as well. They were making noise so that we couldn’t hear the sound of digging coming out of the room,” he added.

One wall of the room, where the juveniles were kept, shares the boundary wall of the observation home.

“They were targetting that particular wall. Had they been successful in digging the hole big enough, they would have escaped the premises,” the officer said.
The authorities said it is “next to impossible” to dig a hole in the wall.

“It is impossible to dig a see through hole in that wall as it’s a double wall. It would take many weeks to dig a hole big enough for a boy to get through it,” said a welfare officer.

Currently, the observation home houses 90 juveniles and it has 30 welfare officers.