Hardcore criminal escapes from Namchi District Court

Gangtok, Oct 11 (UNI) Rakesh Rai alias Spiderman, a hardcore criminal, has escaped from the Namchi District Court building.

Rai was taken to the court yesterday from the state jail at Rongyk in connection with the hearing of a double murder case in which he was the prime accused and escaped after pulling down the ventillator of a cell in which he was kept, DIG Askhya Sachdeva said here today.

DGP C M Ravindran has ordered a departmental inqury into the incident and placed three police personnel under suspension for negligence of duty.

This was for the third time Rai gave a slip to the police.

Earlier he had escaped from the Gangtok Court in September 2002 from a toilet window while he was facing charges in connection with a series of burglaries.

Rakesh was rearrested in 2003 in connection with a double murder.

After languishing in the jail for around a year, Rai with the help of another accused managed to escape from the jail on the intervening night of September 27-28, 2004.

He was again arrested a fortnight later while trying to break into the Namchi Court.

UNI BD KK VA KN1323