MEERUT, Oct. 17 -- An undertrial escaped from police custody from the Bulandshahr district court in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, where he was brought for a hearing in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, police said.

Md Ashraf, in his mid 20s and a resident of Bulandshahr Kotwali Dehat police station area, had been lodged in the district jail since 2022. Following the incident, police launched a search operation across the court complex and surrounding areas. However, the prisoner could not be traced till the reports last came in.

Confirming the incident, which occurred around 4 pm, SP (city) Abhishek Pratap said multiple police teams had been deployed to trace and arrest the undertrial,...