Prisoner flees police custody at court, held after short chase on foot

Police said Praveen Yadav, former deputy commandant of the BSF, was arrested in January this year for allegedly orchestrating a scam of Rs 140 crore, wherein he had allegedly posed as an IPS officer on deputation on the National Security Guard campus in Manesar and conned several contractors on the pretext of allotting tenders for construction work on the campus. Police had recovered Rs 13.81 crore in cash and six luxury cars from his possession. Yadav’s wife, sister and an associate were also arrested in the case, and at least five FIRs were registered. Subsequently, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the case.

According to police, the incident took place around 1 pm on Friday when Yadav was being escorted out after a hearing at the district court in Gurgaon.

In the FIR, the complainant, a head constable in the escort guard, said that he was escorting the accused after he was produced in the court of judicial magistrate first class.

“When we reached D block near the lawyers’ chambers, Praveen freed his hand from mine and ran towards gate number 2. I sounded the alarm that a prisoner was escaping and shouted ‘pakdo pakdo’. An assistant sub-inspector and I ran after him. After a distance of more than 100 metres, a sub-inspector got hold of him, but he broke free. When he attempted to run again, he fell on the road. He was then caught and taken into custody,” said the complainant in the FIR.

A police officer said, “As police personnel were escorting him to a judicial lock-up, the accused managed to free himself. He had reached a distance of 100-150 metres before he was caught by police officials and taken into custody. Legal action is being taken.”

Police said an FIR was registered under IPC section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) at Shivaji Nagar police station on Friday evening.