Cops slip on soap as killer escapes

RANCHI: A criminal escaped from Tupudana police station on Saturday, two days after he was arrested with one automatic and a country-made pistol with six bullets.
Lakhan Singh, who is known for his shooting skills in city's crime circles, was wanted in a number of cases including murder. Though a search operation was launched immediately after the escape, police could not nab him.
Officer in charge of Tupudana police station Krishna Murari and two others have been suspended.
In 2009, Singh had shot dead a coal businessman R Dhanuka outside his office at Panchwati Plaza and escaped. However, he was arrested later and sent to jail. Recently, he came out on bail.
Sources at Tupudana police station said Singh wanted to bathe before he was taken to the civil court for production on Saturday morning, saying he had not taken a bath for the past three days. Senior officers in the police station asked a constable to take him to the washroom which is situated at the back of the police station, though on the same campus.
Singh studied the location. "He suddenly desired to wash himself with soap. The cop who was guarding him gave him soap," said a source. The sudden demand for soap did not evoke any suspicion in constable Nityanand Prasad Sinha's mind.
Officer in charge of Tupudana police station Murari said the criminal escaped after managing to remove the handcuffs with soap foam. "Before anyone could understand it, Singh scaled the wall of the police station." The wall of the police station is 6.5 feet tall. The police station is situated in the suburbs of Ranchi. Behind the police station, a large area of field is located which helped the criminal to escape.
After the incident, DIG Ranchi range Seethal Oraon and other senior officials arrived at the police station to take stock of the situation. Oraon said, "The incident has occurred because of sheer carelessness on the part of the constable and others ."
Oraon said the police had launched a search operation to catch him but in vain.