Chandigarh, January 22
Three alleged assassins of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh escaped in the small hours of today from a high-security Burail Model Jail in their third suspected attempt digging a 94-foot-long tunnel that went beneath three walled security rings.

Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara, Paramjit Singh Beora and their cook and murder accused Dev Singh, lodged in the same cell number 7 of Munda Khana Barrack, were found missing from the jail this morning putting the Chandigarh Police and that of the neighbouring states on high alert. Dev Singh from Garhwal was lodged in the jail in connection with a murder in Sector 39 of the city.

“They dug up a 2.5-ft-wide, more than 94-ft-long tunnel beneath their cell, then the barrack, then 14 feet past the third security wall and possibly crawled a distance of around 50 feet when the electricity of the jail failed twice,” a source said. The tunnel had been covered in the cell by a back rest of the chair. At the exit in the fields it had been covered by a wooden board on which carrots had been grown.

It was the third attempt of the Beant Singh murder accused to escape from the jail. They allegedly tried to escape on July 7, 1998, and then in 2002. The police, however, could not prove the charge against them.

“The tunnel had been dug into the cemented platform which Hawara used as a bed. It had a diameter of around 2.5 ft and was 14 ft deep,” sources told The Tribune. The police and security agencies cordoned off the jail and did not allow mediapersons inside the jail.

The sources said it seemed the terrorists had been planning digging a tunnel for several years and started the actual work at least a year back.

The sources said the Beant Singh assassination accused had been putting up resistance against inspectors saying they were Amritdhari Sikhs and entry of others in the cell would defile the area.

Asked how the earth removed during the digging activity was hidden, the sources said they had been disposing of a small amount of it daily with water used in toilet, bathroom and kitchen. They were B-class prisoners who have these facilities.

The sources said the Beant Singh murder accused put up curtains on the almirahs in the cell and as many as 40 bags full of earth removed was found hidden behind them. As per the jail rules, the almirahs are left uncovered for the inspectors to know what is there in the room. The tunnel went beneath a road inside the jail and 9-ft-wide foundation of the wall, the sources said.

A weightlifting rod was found in the cell with one side of it having mud stuck to it indicating it might have been used to dig the tunnel.

Electricity in the jail failed twice in the night, the sources in the Electricity Department said. The generators of the jail also did not work during this period.

The sources said the foursome used to keep the water tap running round the clock so that sound during the digging activity could not be heard. This water was also used to soften the soil in the tunnel.

They had turned turbans into ropes to go inside the tunnel during the digging activity. A bulb, a wire, possibly used in the tunnel during the night, was also found.

The source said their TV was on till 3 am yesterday adding the TV might have been used as a camouflage. The police said the information about their escape came to them at 8.15 am. Unconfirmed reports said the exit of the tunnel was noticed at around 7 am and then the jail authorities sought to find the three persons in the city before going to the police.

It is surprising their escape could not be caught by 18 cameras fitted in the jail. They crawled in the open for more than 50 ft before scaling a wall. The wall bears foot marks. Two T-shirts were lying there indicating they might have changed their clothes in the open.

The sources said the opening of the tunnel used to be covered by a back support of a chair and then with cushion and a bed sheet.

The night watchman of a gas agency godown, which is barely 15 ft away from the jail wall Nizammuddin, however, said he did not hear four of his dogs bark in the night nor did he hear any noise of a vehicle.

He said it might have been because of the night-long drizzle which keeps the dogs inside.