5 juvenile inmates who fled Home found

Darjeeling: Five inmates of the Anubhav Juvenile Home of Jalpaiguri who had allegedly run away, were all found from in and around the town.

On Sunday evening, the five had escaped from the home located on Club Road in Jalpaiguri.

The matter came to light at around 6 pm when the routine roll call was being done before evening prayers and it was discovered that five inmates were missing. "We informed the police immediately. In the past 13 years that we have been running this home, there has not been any such incident. We feel that the five had gone over the boundary wall and escaped," stated Deepashree Rai, in-charge of the home. The police had put up surprise checks on all major thoroughfares of the town including the entry and exit points. One of the inmates was recovered on Sunday night from the banks of Korola river. She was then questioned regarding the others.

It has been learnt that out of the five, four are from Jalpaiguri district and one from Hoogly. The police had also alerted the Railway Childline so that the inmates could be traced if they tried to escape by rail. The remaining four inmates were recovered on Monday. "They were recovered from different localities from in and around the town. The five had been brought to the Home recently. As the courts were closed for the Puja vacation, we could not send them back to their families after completion of legal procedures. Now that the courts are open, the Child Welfare Committee members will complete the necessary legal procedures so that they can be sent back home to their families," stated Rachna Bhagat, District Magistrate, Jalpaiguri.