Goa: Undertrial prisoner escapes from hospital campus

Outside the hospital, a scooter was waiting for the accused, he said.As the constable was closing on, the man on the scooter fired a round in air from a country-made revolver while Gautam and the person who used pepper spray sat pillion.

An undertrial prisoner escaped from the campus of the district hospital in Mapusa town in Goa by ''breaking open'' handcuffs, an official said on Wednesday. The accused, Vivek Gautam (28), escaped on a two-wheeler rode by his accomplice who was waiting outside the hospital, on Tuesday night, a senior official said, adding that a round was fired in the air by the accomplice.

The accused, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and arrested in connection with a dacoity case in January last year, was referred to the district hospital by officials of Colvale Jail after he complained of stomach pains and vomiting around 11.30 PM on Tuesday. Gautam was handcuffed while being brought to the hospital and also after he was examined by a doctor, he said.

''When he was brought outside from the check-up, he forcibly broke open his handcuffs and started running away. A constable escorting him gave a chase. However, when the constable was crossing a gate of the hospital, a person standing there tried to spray pepper in his eyes. But the constable didn't stop,'' he said. Outside the hospital, a scooter was waiting for the accused, he said.

''As the constable was closing on, the man on the scooter fired a round in air from a country-made revolver while Gautam and the person who used pepper spray sat pillion. They sped away from the spot,'' he said.

Police later found a cartridge of bullets, the pepper spray bottle, and the broken handcuffs, the official said. He said police are trying to obtain CCTV camera footage, if any, of the spot.

Efforts are underway to nab the runaway undertrial, the official added..