Alipurduar, Sept. 10 -- Two youths accused in a motorcycle theft case escaped from police custody in broad daylight on Thursday while being taken to Alipurduar District Hospital for a medical examination, triggering a search operation across the town.
The incident occurred around noon in the Mahakal Dham area, barely 20 days after a similar escape in Falakata on August 20. The recurrence has raised questions over police vigilance while transporting accused persons.
According to police, personnel from Alipurduar police station were taking Bhim Mangar and Raj Tirkey to the district hospital when the vehicle slowed down due to heavy traffic. The two allegedly took advantage of the situation, escaped from the vehicle and disappeared into the crowd. Following the incident, police collected CCTV footage from several locations in Mahakal Dham and began examining it to trace the accused. They remained untraced till the latest reports came in.
Alipurduar SP Amit Kumar Shaw said: "We will quickly trace and arrest the absconding accused.
If there has been any negligence on the part of the police personnel, that will also be thoroughly investigated."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.