According to officials, the district jail at Sazaikawn currently has 151 inmates despite the fact that it only has capacity for 109 inmates. Five prisoners, who were Myanmar nationals, escaped from Mizoram’s Lunglei district jail of Sazaikawn early on Wednesday morning, police official said. The escaped prisoners are Lalchawimawia (24), Lalbawihliana (27), Dokapthang (26), Haudeihchhin (25) and Vanneihthanga (38), all apprehended under various crimes. District jail superintendent HS Zosangliana said, “At around 1:30am on Wednesday morning, when the jail guards were checking the wards, the five escaped prisoners were still in their cell. But at 2:15am, when another round of checking was done, the guards found that the five Myanmarese prisoners were no longer present, and that a portion of the brick wall of their bathroom was removed.” Zosangliana said the prisoners could have been planning to escape a long time back, adding that the brick walls of the bathroom weren’t properly maintained. “There are 7 duty posts at the jail wall fencing but they are provided with only three home guards who man the posts between 2am and 5am. Moreover, when the prisoners had escaped after which we were checking the wall fencing, we found out that none of the home guards were at their posts”, Zosangliana said. A search party was immediately sent out at 3am and an FIR lodged at Lunglei police station. According to officials, the district jail at Sazaikawn currently has 151 inmates despite the fact that it only has capacity for 109 inmates. The jail has 12 male staff and 8 female staff with three home guards.
