Hours after three convicts escaped from Karnataka’s Kalaburagi Central Prison by scaling the 20-foot-high compound wall, one of them apprehended after a police encounter in the early hours of Wednesday.
Police is carrying out an intensive search operations to trace the other two fugitives, IANS reported.
Santhosh Basappa Metre, 28, who hails from Bidar district, sustained a gunshot injury to his right leg after he got involved in an encounter with police near Humnabad Ring Road in an industrial area. Two police personnel, named Kalyani and Prakash, got injured in the incident and were later admitted to the hospital.
The major prison break incident has shocked the Congress government in Karnataka, especially as Kalaburagi is the home district of the state’s Home Minister Priyank Kharge.
Earlier, police officials informed that the three convicts managed to escape the Central Prison on Tuesday after they cut the grill of their barrack and scaled the 20-foot compound wall.
In CCTV footage, the three of them were seen walking freely after coming out of prison and then boarding a vehicle.
Soon after, the prison authorities lodged a complaint at Farhatabad Police Station and multiple special teams were constituted to trace them.
“Three convicts escaped from Kalaburagi Central Prison yesterday. Two are convicted in rape and POCSO cases, while another is serving a sentence in a murder case. All three are natives of Bidar district,” IANS quoted Kalaburagi Police Commissioner SD Sharanappa as saying.
“The escaped prisoners avoided main roads and moved through agricultural fields. Based on our information, they initially moved in pairs before splitting up and travelling separately,” he added.
After receiving a tip-off regarding the movement of a suspect near Humnabad Ring Road, police teams arrived at the spot and asked the accused to surrender.
“When police intercepted him, warning shots were fired into the air. However, he allegedly attempted to attack police personnel, forcing officers to open fire in self-defence. He sustained a gunshot injury to his right leg,” Sharanappa said.