Man escapes Dhaka jail using self-made ladder

An inmate of the Kashimpur Central Jail-2 has escaped prison using a ladder that he made himself.

Abu Bakar Siddik, who had been sentenced to life in prison, was not wearing the prison uniform he launched this escapade.

None of the jail guards intercepted him on his way out. And they did not ask him why he was making that ladder either.

A probe body formed by the government to look into the escape has revealed all this information. The committee examined the CCTV footage and spoke to 42 officers and employees before filing their report to the home ministry.

The committee led by Colonel Abrar Hossain, an additional inspector general of prisons, visited the jail on 8 and 13 August.

The district magistrate was informed of the escape 16 hours after the incident and that too via email. As many as 27 of the jail's 48 CCTVs and the search lights were out of order on the day.

The probe body said that had the jail superintendent and the deputy jailers patrolled the areas regularly, there would not have been any ladder inside the prison.

Home minister Asaduzzaman said the secretary of the security services division has been asked to act as per the recommendations of the probe body.

CCTV footage shows that Abu Bakar Siddik, wearing civil dress and with a ladder on his shoulder, exited through the main gate of the Brahmaputra Bhaban around 11:00am on 6 August. He then crossed the field and got to the main gate. The security guards there did not charge him either. Around 12:20pm, a jail guard noticed the ladder and sent it to the case table, where the chief jail guard was.

The probe body says it is crystal clear that from the jail super to the jail guards, everyone was responsible for the delay in informing the district magistrate.

The regular head count at noon also revealed that a prisoner had gone missing, but they did not inform the jailer or the jail super.

They came to know about it in the evening and the Gazipur district magistrate came to know about it the next day.

The probe body came to know that Siddik would not wear prison uniform. He had a previous record of going missing in 2015. He chose to be on his own, instead of mingling with the other inmates. The jail authorities also did not force him to wear prison garb.

The probe body has found 25 officers and employees guilty of negligence of duty, including senior jail super Jahanara Begum. They have recommended steps against them as per the service rules and departmental action as well.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Jahanara Begum said, "I am not directly involved with this incident. It happened in my jail, so I have to shoulder some responsibility. But the entire blame cannot be slapped on me."

Besides taking steps against the responsible, the probe body has also recommended beefing up the security of the prisons, especially ensuring that the CCTVs function properly and making the inmates wear the prison uniform.