Ninety-one prisoners all under 18 flee facility in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, with 35 recaptured and many still on the run

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Scores of prisoners have staged a mass breakout from an Indian young offender institution by tying bedsheets together and scaling the walls of the three-storey building, according to police.

Ninety-one prisoners, including several convicted murderers, managed to flee the facility in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, early on Monday, although 35 have since been recaptured, the city’s superintendent of police said. “They removed an iron grille from a window at the back of the building while police were guarding the front,” Om Prakash said. “This was done so professionally that no one got a whiff.”

Those on the run included prisoners convicted of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and banditry, Prakash said. All are under 18.

Police say the breakout was staged between 1am and 3am. The alarm was raised when officers patrolling near the centre spotted some of the fugitives trying to flag down public transport.

Prisoners from the same centre beat a policeman to death in December after he objected to their lewd behaviour with a woman during a court trial.

More than 31,000 people are held at young offender institutions in India, according to the latest available official statistics. Prisoners usually sleep in dormitories.