Escaped prisoner shot in leg after attacking police in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, jail staff suspended

Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Jul 15 (PTI) An escaped convict was shot in the leg after he allegedly attacked a police team which tried to apprehend him on Wednesday, police said. Following the prison-break, the Karnataka government suspended the concerned jail authorities and staff for negligence. The accused, Santosh, allegedly attacked the police personnel when they tracked him down and attempted to arrest him, they said. In self-defence, police opened fire, injuring him in the leg, police said, adding that two police constables also sustained injuries in the incident. According to police, Santosh is one among the three convicted prisoners who escaped from the Kalaburagi Central Prison here after allegedly cutting a bathroom grill and using a ladder to scale the compound wall early on Tuesday. Special teams have been formed to trace the remaining two convicted prisoners. Santosh and the injured policemen were admitted to the Trauma Centre at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) Hospital in Kalaburagi for treatment, a senior police officer said. Further investigation is underway, police added. In a statement, State Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the concerned jail authorities and staff have been suspended for negligence and dereliction of duty in connection with a case of three inmates escaping from the Kalaburagi Central Prison. He said that police officers were directed to take effective measures to capture the escaped inmates, as a result of which one has already been apprehended. "Since taking charge as the Home Minister, I have conducted review meetings for every division of the Home Department and necessary steps are being taken for the strengthening and modernisation of all those divisions. In the coming days, I will be conducting inspections into the conditions of all prisons in the state and reviewing the efficiency of the prison staff," he said in a statement. The minister assured that the government is committed to implementing measures such as prison reforms, upgrading security systems, and curbing illegal activities. Hitting out at the BJP, Kharge said, "It would be well advised for the BJP leaders, who are sitting with their mouths wide open just to criticise, to introspect for once on what the condition of the state's prisons was during their own tenure." He recalled that in 2010, during the tenure of the BJP government, eight inmates escaped from the Koppal District Prison. "This can be considered the biggest such case in the history of the state. Does the BJP call this a failure of the then Home Minister?" he asked. Kharge further alleged that the state has witnessed news during the BJP's tenure where the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison turned into a guest house providing all sorts of luxuries to the inmates. "Will they accept that this was a failure of the BJP government?" he asked. PTI AMP ROH