2 escape from Anjuna police lock-up

               TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

ANJUNA: They were either skilled in masonry or they simply exposed the weak structure of the police lockup at the four-yr-old Anjuna Police station, as two persons accused of burglary escaped from police custody by boring a hole overnight in the toilet of the cell on Friday night.

While one of them, Omkar Patil (23) was eventually nabbed by police, three police constables have been suspended in this connection.

According to police reports, Patil, the other fugitive, Savlo Korgaonkar (25), and four other inmates were lodged in the cell at the police lockup. Korgaonkar had been remanded to six days police custody in connection with a temple burglary.

“Korgaonkar had committed several burglaries at temples in the past and was a history-sheeter. He has several cases against him. The other accused was involved in several house-breaking thefts and was lodged at the Anjuna lockup by the Mapusa police,” said Pernem PSI Vijay Chodankar, who is the investigating officer of cases involving Savlo.

According to Anjuna Police Inspector Paresh Naik, the two accused were lodged at the Anjuna police lockup two days earlier and were housed in the same cell as four other accused.

“The two accused removed a latch of the toilet door and along with a small piece of a pipe, managed to scrape off the plaster on the wall, as it was already wet and weak due to a leak in the toilet. The duo kept the water tap running while removing the stone of the toilet wall, in order to avoid causing any sound and suspicion,” said PI Naik.

“At around 7.40 am, one police constable went to take a head count and noticed that the two accused were missing from the lockup. We immediately began combing operations in the area and set up police pickets in Anjuna.” PI Naik added.

“The police managed to nab one of the accused Patil at Santa Cruz at about 11.30 am, while efforts were on to nab the other accused, Korgaonkar. Police teams have been dispatched all over the state and to neighbouring states,” PI Naik added.

According to sources, this is the first instance of an escape from the Anjuna police station since it was inaugurated in 2009. Incidentally, there are no CCTV cameras around the police lockup or anywhere else at the Anjuna police station.

Meanwhile, North Goa SP Priyanka Kashyap suspended three police constables on charges of negligence and dereliction of duty. The suspended constables are Gurunath Naik, Nithyanand Harlankar and Saviya Gawde.

SP Kashyap, DySPs Mahesh Gaonkar and Umesh Gaonkar, as well as Mapusa PI Tushar Verenekar later visited the site to take stock of the situation.

Anjuna police has registered an offence in this connection and is investigating the case.