Five detained as manhunt for juvenile home escapee widens

At least five suspected persons have been detained for questioning amid intensified search for a gangster who remained at large after escaping a juvenile home, along with two Pakistani inmates, in a border village of Jammu, officials said on Wednesday. Both the Pakistani nationals were arrested on Tuesday, within 20 hours of the incident near Ambala railway station in Haryana, while they were heading for Nepal.

Karajeet Singh alias Gugga, a resident of Dablehar in R S Pura, and Pakistan citizens, Mohammad Suna-ullah (20) and Ahsan Anwar (21), allegedly attacked police personnel and fled from the juvenile home around 5 pm on Monday (February 16). Two cops were injured in the incident. A purported video of the gangster, said to be associated with the ‘Khauff’ gang, showing Singh resorting to a few rounds of firing inside the juvenile home, is circulating on social media, drawing public concern. The officials said Singh, who is believed to be the mastermind of the escape, is still at large, and efforts are on to arrest him.

Special teams have been fanned out and are conducting raids at various places within and outside Jammu to nab him, they said, adding that Singh’s mother is also missing from her Jammu residence and is believed to be accompanying him. They said five people, who were in regular contact with the gangster inside the juvenile home, were detained for questioning.

Singh was arrested along with nearly a dozen other accused in connection with the murder of rival gang leader Sumit Jandiyal alias ‘Gataru’ in the Jewel chowk area in January last year and was subsequently lodged in the juvenile home.