Maligakande prison break:

Security lapses, cause for concern

By Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Last week's incident where 11 hardcore prisoners escaped from the prison cell at the Maligakande Magistrate's Court is a case in point where security lapses were evident. Was it a case of prison guards deliberately neglecting the duties assigned to them? The four prison guards and an overseer assigned to watch over the hardcore convicts were not mindful of their duties, say Prison officials.

It all happened around 1.00 p.m. last Monday (June 7) when 17 prisoners were produced before the Maligakande Magistrate and were escorted back to the prison cell at the Magistrate's Court. The prison guards may have assumed that everything was in place after the 17 prisoners were locked up in a common cell.

According to Prison officials, the four prison guards and the overseer had left for refreshments, forgetting the fact that there were convicts serving life sentences among the prisoners in their custody. Of the 17 prisoners 11 hardcore convicts managed to escape after cutting through the wire mesh with a device. The prisoners thereafter had scaled over an eight-foot wall surrounding the Magistrate's Court premises before making their daring escape.

The incident brings to our memory scenes from the film The Great Escape where prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp dug a huge tunnel underground and escaped by hijacking an aircraft belonging to the Nazis. But their happiness was shortlived when the aircraft ran out of fuel and was forced to land in territory belonging to Nazi Germans. Thereafter the entire crew was re-captured by Nazi border guards. As far as I remember, only two men who disguised themselves as fishermen escaped in a canoe after rowing several miles downstream a river. The other prisoners who attempted to escape by road were also re-captured, ending a thrilling drama.

Jailbreaks have become part and parcel of Sri Lanka's prison culture judging by the number of prisoners who had escaped from custody over the years. But what is evident is that jailbreaks now happen with alarming frequency. Whom are we to blame for this? Are we to blame some prison guards who are corrupt to the core? It is a known fact that some work in collusion with convicts for cash rewards.

It is also known that some prison guards have been involved in corrupt practices such as peddling drugs and smuggling cellular phones to inmates. Obviously they are in the payroll of 'Mafia' bosses serving long-term sentences. Although such glaring corrupt practices have been exposed in the media in the past, nothing has been done to cleanse the Prison Department. After all, hard core convicts escaping from custody is a serious matter that warrants a commission being appointed by the Government to investigate prison reforms. There has also been an incident where a prisoner who attempted to escape from custody at Hulftsdorp was shot dead by a prison guard.

Issues to be investigated

According to Prison officials, the bizarre incident took place around 1.00 p.m. last Monday after the detainees were brought back from the Maligakande Magistrate's Court to the prison cell. It is less clear how a detainee was able to hide a device that was used to cut the wire mesh. Did a prison guard or someone else provide him that device? Or was it that the device was brought all the way from the Welikada Magazine Prison to the Maligakande Court premises? Won't the prison guards carry out body searches on hard core detainees before they are escorted outside prisons? These are some of the issues that have to be investigated to prevent such occurrences in future.

It is common sense that the prison guards should have searched the convicts before they were escorted outside their cell. But why wasn't it done? Why didn't they follow such simple security procedures? Nobody knows for sure whether the escapees had carried firearms with them to commit more crimes. It is a dangerous scenario to allow hard core convicts to mingle in society without being apprehended.

According to Prisons sources, the four prison guards and an overseer had gone for refreshments after locking up the detainees without detailing an armed prison guard near the cell. Obviously they should have known that convicts serving life sentences were among the prisoners that day. The panel appointed to investigate the incident will obviously investigate whether prison guards had wilfully neglected their duty. They should also investigate the guards for graft among other things and not leave any stone unturned.

According to Prisons, Media Spokesman Kenneth Fernando, the four guards and overseer who escorted the detainees to the Maligakande Magistrate's Court have been interdicted by the Commissioner General of Prisons pending a departmental inquiry. The Senior Superintendent of Prisons at the Welikada Prison Headquarters, Asoka Hapuarachchi has been appointed as the Head of the panel to investigate the incident.

The panel will investigate whether proper security procedures were in place while the detainees were in the prison cell at the Maligakande Magistrate's court. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms has appointed its Additional Secretary to conduct a parallel investigation on the incident.

Drug offences

The Prisons Spokesman, Superintendent of Prisons Kenneth Fernando said the 11 convicts who escaped from the Maligakande prison were convicts involved in drug offences serving long-term jail sentences. Asked whether they have been involved in violent crimes such as murders, he said none has been convicted for any such offences.

He said four inmates were convicted for drug-related offences and were serving jail sentences up to 20 years.

The other escapees too have been sentenced to long prison terms. He said Prison officials were able to re-capture a man at a house at Baddowita, Dehiwela the day after the prison break.

The escapees are noted drug dealers from Dehiwela, Grandpass, Moratuwa, Piliyandala, Slave Island and other suburban areas of Colombo.

Superintendent Fernando said the convicts who escaped have been peddling drugs to other inmates. He said those who escape from prison custody ultimately end up in the prisons sooner or later after getting involved in fresh crime. "Although convicts don't disclose their identity, our senior jailors identify them once they are inside," he said.

Superintendent Fernando said while some escapees are still at large, and attempts are being made to re-capture them.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Macarthy Perera said following the jail break, six police teams were detailed to track down the escapees. While three have been apprehended, eight convicts are still at large, evading arrest. A drag-net has been thrown islandwide to arrest the escapees while all police stations have been alerted.

According to police sources, a Sub-Inspector at the Dematagoda police station on hearing about the jailbreak arrived at the road and saw two suspicious looking persons dressed in white shirts and sarongs travelling towards Baseline Road from Maradana in a three-wheeler. He signalled the three-wheeler to stop, but it proceeded towards the Dematagoda traffic lights along the Baseline Road.

The Sub-Inspector had then followed the three-wheeler and when it slowed down at the traffic lights, he had pulled out a man from the three- wheeler.

The man had then exchanged blows with the Sub-Inspector and was about to escape when he was overpowered by other policemen who had arrived at the scene.

Meanwhile, the other suspect in the three-wheeler got away, but was subsequently arrested by a policeman on traffic duty at the Technical Junction, Maradana.

Number of escapees from custody 

Year	Number

2000	193
2001	116
2002	227
2003	215
2004	541	
2005	270
2006	216
2007	266
2008	257
Number of re-captured prisoners 

Year 	Number 

2000	100
2001	 54
2002	 94
2003	 96
2004	 99
2005	 99
2006	 66	
2007	 88	
2008	121
Statistics: Prison Headquarters, Colombo