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Bhuj jailer guards an empty prison

Sheela Bhat in Bhuj

P M Patel, Superintendent of Police, and jailer of Bhuj jail has been on duty without a break since January 26.

When the earthquake hit Gujarat, the 100-year-old jail building collapsed. All the jail's 268 prisoners, including nine women, were in the open ground for a Republic Day flag hoisting ceremony. The earthquake was so severe that all the barracks and the walls collapsed. One hundred and seventy six prisoners jumped the wall and escaped.

Patel told rediff.com, "We have filed cases against the prisoners who escaped."

According to Deputy Inspector General, border range, A K Singh several prisoners have already been arrested. He is confident of arresting the rest soon. "Once the court starts functioning, we will produce them before the court and send them to Sabarmati jail," he said.

Interestingly, four of the six Pakistanis, who escaped, were arrested on the Indo-Pak border by the Border Security Force after a special operation.

Satish Sharma, SP of the anti-terrorist squad of the Gujarat Police, confirmed the arrests.

Jumman Mohmmad (65), Nawab Ali (25), Usman Mohmmad (23) and Haji Ibrahim (26) were arrested just 100 metres inside the Indian border. All of them have been sent to Ahmedabad jail. Around 65 others have also been re-arrested at various places and will be brought to Bhuj.

But despite the fact that the jail is badly damaged and there are no prisoners, the jailer has been asked to guard the demolished structure. And at the time of writing he is looking for tents for his staff. He said, "Three relatives of my staff members and a staff member died in the quake. Our prisoners were making tents, now we are looking for tents. The prisoners obviously ran for their lives. It's obvious that they will respond to nature's law and not care for man-made laws."

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