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300 Commies flee Indian jail in mass breakout
 Nearly 300 communist rebel supporters escaped from an understaffed jail in eastern India in a dramatic mass breakout on Sunday, police said. Some 299 prisoners fled the jail in Chhattisgarh, a hotbed of Maoist insurgency, after overpowering their guards during a meal. It was a premeditated conspiracy, local police official Rahul Sharma told AFP.Sharma described many of the fugitives as sympathisers of the Maoist rebels, but added that there were no hardcore Maoists in the prison. Earlier, Sharma told the NDTV news channel that the prisoners had overpowered the six guards on duty and seized their weapons before fleeing under cover of gunfire. Three people were injured in the breakout, Sharma told AFP, including two guards and a prisoner. Earlier NDTV reported five people were injured. The police official said police reinforcements had reached the jail on the outskirts of Dantewada town and were searching for the escapees. Sharma called for more security at the jail, saying it was in a high-risk area. Ideally it should be a maximum security jail, he said. The prison had a third as many guards on its staff as it needed, he added, saying the jail required at least 120 security personnel. Posted by: Fred 2007-12-17 |
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