11 prisoners flee hospital; 8 nabbed

They are all mentally ill, include an undertrial

Hyderabad: In a bizarre incident, 11 mentally ill prisoners including an under-trial, undergoing treatment at the Institute of Mental Health Hospital in Erragadda, escaped from the hospital premises on Monday night. However, police nabbed eight of them from SR Nagar, Charminar, Santoshnagar and other parts of the city on Tuesday. Three prisoners, including the kingpin, are still at large.

According to V Satyanarayana DCP (West), the mentally-challenged patients were undergoing treatment for a long time at the wards meant for patients from prisons.

The incident occurred on Monday night, when Qureshi, the alleged mastermind, who is facing cases under NDPS Act and sections of 498 (a), 506 and 507 of the IPC at the Chanchalguda Jail, used oxygen cylinders to break open the ward walls and fled along with other prisoners. Police informed that special police teams nabbed eight of them. A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the other three, Qureshi, Tirumalesh and Jeevan, who are still at large.

Qureshi hails from Hyderabad and the two others reported to be from Tirupati and Warangal respectively. The alleged mastermind is stated to be an undertrial and also a murder accused. “He was angry after not being permitted to meet his second wife last night as part of ‘mulaqat’ and resorted to this act. He later closed the ward from inside and threatened other patients with a cable wire and created ruckus,” SR Nagar police said. It is also alleged that the security lapses led to this incident. Further investigation is underway.