Sada officials lax, says chargesheet
PANJIM, FEB 27
The chargesheet in the infamous Hitler Fernandes jail-break has revealed that a jail guard had inspected the cell from where three criminals escaped few hours before the incident but he missed to locate a huge manhole in it.
On August 4, 2010, a gang of three prisoners Hitler Rosario, double convict, Seby Ferrao and Abhijit Babasaheb, both undertrials escaped from Sada Sub Jail’s Cell number 13 by drilling a hole in the toilet.
The chargesheet filed against five prison officials clearly mentions how jail guards were reportedly lax in patrolling the jail from within, which is housing State’s few of the most dreaded undertrials.
Highly placed sources stated that the chargesheet was submitted to the Inspector General of Prisons (IGP) Mihir Vardhan recently following which departmental inquiry against the five jail officials is initiated.
Assistant jailors Uday Shirodkar and Manuel Travasso, jail guards Deelip Galelkar and Vasudev Pednekar are charge-sheeted under section 14 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1965.
Whereas, jail guard Gaurish Naik is charge-sheeted under section 3 (i) (ii) (iii) of the CCS (conduct) Rules, 1964.
The escaped jail birds chose a perfect time to execute their plan between 2 am and 2.45 am. Four officials were immediately placed under suspension even as all five are slapped charges of misconduct or misbehaviour.
Charges against Vasudev are that although he had full visibility of Cell number 13, he not only failed to keep vigil and be alert in his duties but also failed to bring the matter to the notice of his superiors.
“He had full visibility of Cell number 13 but he failed to keep vigil and be alert in his duties as a result of which the three prisoners escaped through a hole made in the toilet wall of the cell,” the chargesheet reads.
“…he failed to bring fact to the notice of the higher authorities in time, the escaped prisoners could have been recaptured,” it added.
Jail guard Gaurish who could get away from suspension is however indicted for grave negligence. A day before the escape, on August 3 at about 6 pm, Gaurish carried out a futile inspection of the Cell and the bathroom.
During inquiry, Gaurish defended that he inspected the Cell and checked the bathroom and toilet by knocking the walls with lathi (stick).
“He failed to find cavity (hole) and the removed tile from the toilet wall while inspecting which amounts to gross negligence. His lethargic attitude to thoroughly check resulted in his failure to find the hole as a result of which the three prisoners escaped,” IGP Vardhan stated in the inquiry report.
The negligent action of all five jail officials are compiled in the six-month inquiry. The departmental inquiry will now decide further course of action. However, neither IGP Vardhan nor additional IGP Dipak Desai was available for comments.
