16 November,2009 12:53 PM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
City police say their repeated suggestions to Yerawada remand home authorities to enhance security arrangements have only fallen on deaf ears
Two teenagers lodged in the Jawaharlal Nehru Udyog Kendra in Yerawada after being arrested for petty crimes escaped in October and raped a four-year-old. They were brought back to the remand home after being arrested a few days later.
The duo ran away again after some days only to be arrested again. Their third attempt at escape came on November 12, when the two boys and 14 others climbed over the compound wall with the help of a tree that had crashed on to it.
While six of them have been sent back by relatives, the others have been free for four days now to commit whatever crime their desire.
Police authorities say that in various instances the escaped delinquents have been found to be involved inu00a0u00a0 bigger crimes than what they were initially arrested for.
Cops say...
Even though 104 juvenile offenders have managed to flee the remand home this year, nothing seems to have been done to stop it. Local police authorities claim it has been over a month since they have sent a proposal
with detailed suggestions to enhance security arrangements at the remand home, but the file is just gathering dust.
DCP Dr Jalinder Supekar said, "After 14 boys ran away on October 15, we had written a letter to the remand home authorities with suggestions on security measures to prevent such incidents. But nothing happened after that."
Some of the measures include increasing the length of the compound wall, strengthening the walls of dormitory, installing CCTV cameras, increasing the number of security guards and appointing counsellors and maintaining proper supervision on relatives, who visit the juvenile delinquents.
Headless home
The reason the police file is gathering dust is because there has been no one to look after the remand home for two months now. The post of the superintendent has been lying vacant. In this period, more than 30 delinquents fled the remand home.
D L Shinde, the home's former superintendent said, "The ones who escaped on November 12 created a hole in the wall of their dormitory with an iron rod. Besides, there was a power cut due to heavy rains that aided them. The tree that fell due to the rains helped them escape."
More funds
Commissioner of the state social welfare department, Bajirao Jadhav, who oversees all the remand homes in the state told MiD DAY that funds for the remand home were released a month ago. "We released Rs 15 lakh to PWD officials to complete the civil work, but nothing has been done." However, he soon realised the slip and added, "But the PWD officers have shown their willingness to complete the work on a priority basis."
And Yerawada divisions engineer of the PWD A G Gaikwad said "The work was delayed because of the election code of conduct." According to Jadhav, two caretakers of the remand home were suspended and then arrested for helping the boys to escape.
