By Tabora Bojang
Prison authorities have launched a manhunt for 8 inmates from the remand wing of the State Central Prisons Mile II, who reportedly escaped Tuesday night.
The men were believed to have made their way out after cutting the metal ventilation wall of the cells in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“We suspected that they got access to a hacksaw blade inside the cells and used it to cut the metals between the two walls and escaped,” Prisons PRO Superintendent Modou Lamin Ceesay confirmed to The Standard yesterday evening.
He said all the escapees are citizens of The Gambia who have been remanded at Mile II awaiting trials on charges relating to burglary, felony and drugs.
Asked if there is any suspected foul play leading to the escapes, the PRO said the authorities are weighing all possibilities but no arrests have been made yet.
He said there were credible suspicions that the men had been in contact with third parties who would have smuggled the hacksaw blade into the prisons.
“According to our analysis, the process of cutting these metals could take two or three days before they achieve the end result. So anything was possible. It was so unfortunate but as I speak, we have deployed a team on escape duties to make sure they are recaptured,” Ceesay said.
This is the latest in a series of prison escapes at both the Mile II and the Juvenile Wing at Old Jeshwang.
