Man serving life term in murder case escapes from Yerawada open prison

PUNE: A 43-year-old convict serving a life sentence in a murder case escaped from the open jail of Yerawada Central Prison on Saturday.
In an FIR lodged with the Yerawada police, prison officer Hemant Patil stated that the convict, Datta Kisan Gaikwad, was part of a group of prison inmates working at the open jail when the prison officials found him in possession of a tobacco-like substance.Gaikwad was then asked to stand near a barrack for further check. Fearing action, Gaikwad ran away from the spot by crossing the iron mesh compound of the open jail, the prison officer said.
“The prison officials searched the jail premises and other areas before lodging a complaint with us. We have alerted the Osmanabad police and are searching for him,” inspector Ajay Waghmare of the Yerawada police station said.
“Gaikwad, who had spent 14 years in the Yerawada central prison, was moved to the open prison four years ago owing to his good conduct. He would have been released from the prison in the next six months,” a senior prison officer told TOI.