Ranchi, June 10 (IANS) Three Bangladeshi nationals who escaped from the detention centre inside Jayaprakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, have been arrested from West Bengal, officials said on Tuesday.

The trio — identified as Nazmul, Reena Khan, and Nipah Akhtar Khushi — had illegally entered India without valid passports or visas and had previously served sentences in different jails across Jharkhand.

After completing their prison terms, the trio was lodged in the Hazaribagh detention centre, pending deportation to Bangladesh.

They escaped from the detention centre on Saturday evening, when the three reportedly broke through a window grille and breached the security cordon of the facility. However, the jailbreak only came to the notice of the police and district administration on Monday, sparking a state-wide manhunt.

The Hazaribagh police launched intensive raids in coordination with law enforcement in bordering states to nab them. The successful operation in West Bengal led to their capture, and they are now being transported back to Hazaribagh under police custody.

Officials revealed that the process to deport them had been initiated earlier, but there was no response from Bangladeshi authorities, which delayed their repatriation.

The trio remained in limbo inside the detention centre, which is meant to temporarily house foreign nationals awaiting deportation after serving their sentences.

This is not the first instance of a security lapse at the Hazaribagh detention facility. On March 8, 2021, two Bangladeshi nationals — Mohammad Javed alias Noor and Mohammad Zahid Hussain — managed to escape using a similar method by breaking window rods.

Later that year, on September 13, 2021, Mohammad Abdullah, a citizen of Myanmar, also escaped from the same facility.

The repeated breaches have raised serious concerns over security arrangements at the Hazaribagh detention centre.

–IANS

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