Bengaluru: A 42-year-old convict, who had escaped from the police during a visit to hospital four years ago, was nabbed in a mall on Thursday. Interestingly, another convict who had shared a barrack with him years ago and was released recently based on good conduct, tipped off the prison officials about him.
Shankar alias Escape, who was a civil engineer, was convicted in 2011 for allegedly kidnapping an industrialist’s son. He was awarded a life term by the court. In August 2013, Shankar and seven other inmates of the Parappana Agrahara central prison were taken to Victoria Hospital. After the treatment, Shankar had gone to toilet and escaped, hoodwinking the CAR personnel. A case had been registered at the Victoria Hospital police station.
The police, who had searched for him for several months, had given up hope. “On January 26, many convicts were released for their good conduct. They were given photographs and details of convicts who had escaped and had also not returned to jail after going on parole. They were requested to help us by passing on information about such convicts. One of them, who was sharing the same barrack with Shankar when he was in the prison, informed us four months ago that he had seen Shankar near Mallatthalli. By the time we reached there, he had gone. His wife was questioned, but it was of no use. The same person again called us on Thursday and alerted us that Shankar was shopping in the Gopalan Mall on Mysuru Road,” a prison official said.
The police control room was immediately informed and they alerted the jurisdictional Raja Rajeshwarinagar police. “The police staff rushed to the mall and took Shankar’s pictures from a distance and sent it to us. Once we confirmed, they took him in. Out team was sent to Raja Rajeshwarinagar police station with all documents related to Shankar. He was wearing a head scarf and had grown a beard to conceal his identity. He also claimed that he was not Shankar and was a real estate agent. Only after showing him his old photographs, he admitted that he was Shankar,” the official added.
