Accusation made against police escorts for releasing defendants before trial

Purshottam Parsharam Madrasi, who was being held without bail in the Bhavnagar jail after being charged under PASA with selling alcohol without a license, was able to escape police custody on Tuesday. Later, the Amraiwadi police arrested him close to his home in the Bhaipura neighborhood during an operation to catch bootleggers. Ironically, Jagan, Purshottam’s brother, was wanted by the city police since he is also charged with violating the Prohibition Act. It has happened twice in the last four days. On May 23, Vishal Popatbhai Patel, also known as Rafiq, a prisoner housed in the Vadodara Central Jail, was able to elude his police escorts at the criminal court’s Meghaninagar location. Patel was taken to Ahmedabad for trial in a theft case while serving a life sentence for a murder committed in Surat. But there is a another side to what happened on Tuesday. Two police escorts from Bhavnagar had escorted Purshottam, who is charged with bootlegging, to the criminal court for a hearing. When the trio left after presenting the defendant in a metropolitan magistrate’s court, Purshottam allegedly asked for police escorts to visit his son, who he said was ill. The PASA suspect was allegedly permitted to return home unattended by the police escorts. The sole requirement was that Purshottam arrive at the Gita Mandir bus stop by 7 of the clock in the evening. The suspect was apprehended while attempting to flee from an Amraiwadi police raiding team led by the DCP and PI as they were approaching their residence. PJ Trivedi, PI of Amraiwadi, stated that although Jagan was not discovered during the operation, Purshottam’s arrest was unexpected. He has also filed a lawsuit against his police escorts for allowing a prisoner to escape under section 223 of the IPC.