Four juveniles kill watchman, escape from observation home in Bilaspur district

Bilaspur, Jul 13 (PTI) Four juvenile inmates of an observation home allegedly strangled to death a 40-year-old watchman and escaped from the facility in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district in the early hours of Monday, police said. The incident took place at around 2 am at the government-run juvenile observation home locate under the Sarkanda police station limits, Bilaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajnesh Singh said. The deceased, Narendra Kumar Khande, was a resident of Araiband village in the Takhatpur area of the district and employed as a watchman at the residential facility that housed minors alleged to have violated the law, he said. As per preliminary investigation, four juvenile inmates allegedly assaulted Khande, tied his hands and legs, stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth and strangled him to death before fleeing the remand home, Singh stated. Three of the absconding juveniles are residents of Raigarh district, while the fourth one hailed from Korba district. All four were lodged in the borstal in connection with serious criminal cases filed against them, he said. "The motive behind the murder was yet to be ascertained. Prima facie, it appears the juveniles demanded keys of the remand home gates from the watchman with the intention of escaping. When he refused, they overpowered him, killed him and fled," Singh said, adding a detailed probe was underway. Police launched a search operation for the escapees after the incident came to light at around 8 am. Forensic experts examined the crime scene at the remand home along with a dog squad and collected evidence. CCTV footage is being launched for clues, the police officer added. The incident comes weeks after 11 juveniles escaped from a government-run observation home in Surguja district on June 23 after taking advantage of heavy rains and a power outage. PTI COR TKP RSY