RS Pura Observation Home escape case: over six months on, key conspirator remains at large

Facility’s infrastructure, security being upgraded

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 1: Over six months have passed since three inmates, including two Pakistani nationals, made a violent escape from an observation home in RS Pura area here, the alleged key conspirator in the plot still remains at large.

Karanjit Singh alias Gugga, a local gangster and resident of Dablehar in RS Pura, had escaped along with two Pakistani nationals on the evening of February 16 after opening fire at on-duty security personnel with a country-made pistol (desi katta).

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The two Pakistani nationals-Ahsan Anwar of Nankana Sahib and Mohammad Sanaullah of Muzaffarabad-were nabbed the very next day from the Ambala Cantt Railway Station in Haryana by the Special Task Force (STF). However, Gugga managed to give police the slip.

Two policemen, Head Constable Praveen Kumar and Special Police Officer (SPO) Vinay Kumar, were injured in the point-blank shooting, a video of which had surfaced widely on social media shortly after the incident.

Sources said following the breakout, police launched extensive search operations across Jammu and Kashmir and neighboring states, but have so far failed to trace the absconding gangster.

They said investigators had questioned Gugga's mother regarding her son's whereabouts, but she reportedly claimed to have no role or information regarding his escape.

Sources said Gugga's close aide, Rahul Kumar alias Lattu of Suchetgarh, was also arrested by the police on February 18 for his alleged role in smuggling the weapon inside the observation home and arranging logistics.

But Lattu too claimed during the investigation that he last met Gugga in Punjab on the night of the escape and was unaware of his current hideout, sources said.

Meanwhile, authorities have undertaken comprehensive infrastructure and security upgrades at the RS Pura facility to prevent recurrence of such incidents. While Jammu and Kashmir Police Housing Corporation has been reconstructing and reinforcing the boundary walls, the Public Works Department (PWD) has been executing allied structural repairs.

Earlier, the deployment of police personnel inside the observation home had also been augmented from six to 10 personnel.