Two jail officials suspended for negligence
TEAM HERALD
CALANGUTE/PANJIM: A shocking sixth lapse by law enforcement agencies enabled notorious criminal Michael Fernandes escape yet again, this time from the Central Jail at Aguada on Tuesday.
Two jail officials ~ Asst Jailor Vithoba Kotkar and Head Jail Guard Shyam Gawas ~ have been suspended for negligence.
Fernandes (27), who has been accused in over 45 cases of thefts, robberies and dacoities in Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, escaped from the jail shortly after he was brought back by an escort team from the Mapusa Court.
According to reports, Fernandes was taken to Mapusa Court by the Panjim Police Escort Team at about 12.30 pm, in connection with a case. The escort team later handed over the custody of Fernandes to jail guards at Aguada Jail.
Fernandes managed to give them the slip and jumped on to the chapel in the campus, from where he jumped over the protection wall and escaped into the dense forest. The jail guards ran after him, but were simply no match for the fugitive.
The Calangute Police were alerted and a team comprising PI Nilesh Rane, PI Devendra Gaad and LPSI Devyanni Naik, rushed to the Central Jail and combed the area. The Marine Police Team was also pressed into service to trace the notorious criminal.
Inspector General of Prisons Mihir Vardhan could only confirm the escape and said he had sought a report from the superintendent. The border check posts across the State have been alerted about the escape of Fernandes.
Fernandes has had a history of various jail breaks, the most daring being on February 22, 2011, when he jumped from a moving police van. He was recaptured on April 11, 2011 from a dense forest at Khola (Canacona).
Fernandes had also escaped from police custody when he was taken to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour at Porvorim on April 22, 2011. Fernandes and a partner had fled from the hospital after their handcuffs were removed to enable the doctors examine them.
Fernandes who had also given a slip to police during a raid in Siolim on September 9, 2010 was arrested at Colva two days later. He is also accused of robbing several tourists, including foreigners, at gunpoint in Calangute.
By 2011, Fernandes had earned the notorious reputation of reportedly escaping five times from custody, making mockery of the security system in the State.
Last year, Fernandes had also attempted to commit suicide in the lock-up by consuming some tablets.
Recently, the jail superintendent Gopal Parsekar had confiscated a mobile phone from his possession. Sources said he had then challenged the officer to escape from the jail.
Such is the notoriety of Fernandes that he had even threatened witnesses in the court at Mapusa.
Fernandes had allegedly confessed to police in 2010 that he had been offered a ‘supari’ (contract) to kill former chief minister Ravi Naik and his sons Roy and Ritesh by another Goa-based extortionist Joeboy.
On August 24 this year, he also allegedly assaulted a medical officer at the Aguada central jail.
