4 escape from Mahim lockup

There were, in fact, five prisoners in the cell that was breached. Since the quartet belonged to the same group, they were together in the escape.

However, their cellmate, Shahul Hamid Sayed, did not join them. Like the four, Sayed too was arrested by the Shivaji Park police station on Thursday and kept in the custody of the Mahim police station.

This morning, around 4.30 am when the police guard woke up he found the lockup grills onthe first floor broken. On closer inspection he found that wooden frame of the door was pulled out from its joints and the four of the five prisoners inside were missing.

Senior Police Inspector of Mahim police station, V D Pawar, has ruled out the possibility of the robbers having escaped with the connivance of police guard. However, he admitted that the escape was a clear case of dereliction of duty. Pawar said a departmental inquiry has already been launched and anybody found guilty would not be spared. Mahim lock-up has five cells and can accommodate 50 prisoners. In all, six guards are posted outside the lock-up at night. It is suspected that at the time of escape, none of the guards were around. 8220;We are reviewing the security set up inside the police station,8221; Pawar said.