Agartala, Oct 1 (IANS) Six inmates — five undertrial prisoners and one convicted person — escaped from a jail in Tripura in the wee hours of Wednesday, officials said.

A North Tripura district administration official said that the six inmates, including one serving life imprisonment, escaped from Dharmanagar Sub-Jail at Kalikapur after attacking a guard with sharp weapons.

The incident took place when the jail personnel brought the inmates out of their cell for breakfast and for their daily ablutions.

The injured jail staff Bedu Miah is currently under treatment at the Dharmanagar District Hospital and his condition is said to be stable now.

Officials said that immediately after the incident, a massive search operation was launched by various teams of security forces and the hunt for the six men is still on.

North Tripura district Superintendent of Police Avinash Kumar Rai also led one of the search teams. All police stations and security posts in North Tripura and Unakoti districts were alerted.

“We have also requested the Border Security Force to maintain a strict vigil along the India-Bangladesh border so that the fleeing jail inmates cannot cross the border,” an official said.

North Tripura district shares inter-state borders with Assam and Mizoram besides an International Border with Bangladesh.

The official said, “All the exit points along Assam, Mizoram and Bangladesh have been sealed following the incident to prevent the fleeing jail inmates from leaving the state.”

The fleeing undertrial prisoners are Abdul Pata, Rahim Ali, Narayan Chandra Dutta, Rosan Ali, and Nazim Uddin while Sunil Debbarma, accused of serious crimes including murder, has been serving life imprisonment.

Narayan Chandra Dutta is a Bangladeshi national who was earlier arrested in Tripura under Passport and other Acts while Abdul Pata is a resident of Nilambazar in Assam’s Sribhumi district (previously Karimganj district).

Abdul Pata was earlier arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, for his involvement in illegal drugs related cases.

–IANS

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