Shillong: Two inmates who had escaped from the Nongpoh Civil Hospital in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district while undergoing treatment on November 15, 2024, have been arrested separately over the past week, police said on Wednesday.
The Ri-Bhoi Police, along with their counterparts in Meghalaya’s North Garo Hills, nabbed Pappu Chettri alias Robert Chettri (32), a resident of Mawsyntai village, Ri-Bhoi district, on Tuesday. They arrested Sunil Das (29), a resident of Dudhnoi in Assam’s Goalpara district, on May 29.
The duo, who had been on the run for six months, were in jail for separate cases. Ri-Bhoi superintendent of police (SP) Vivekananda Singh said, “The coordinated effort with North Garo Hills Police was crucial in tracing and arresting both fugitives. We are verifying any support networks they may have had during their time in hiding.”
Das was serving a life sentence in connection with a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) at the Nongpoh Women police station. He had been under judicial custody and was receiving treatment at the Civil Hospital when he fled.
He had earlier been convicted under Section 262 (deals with resistance or obstruction by a person to their lawful apprehension or detention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and had completed his sentence on April 22, 2023.
Chettri was also in custody at the Nongpoh Women Police Station in connection with a 2019 case under Sections 341/363/376(2)(i) IPC (now Sections 126, 137, and 64(2)(i) BNS) and escaped along with Das.
According to investigations, both of them fled to Goalpara district in Assam, where they lived under different identities to evade arrest. Security and prisoner escort protocols at medical facilities came under the scanner following the incident.
A Ri-Bhoi police officer said that Das has already been re-lodged in jail and a team is currently escorting Pappu Chettri back to Nongpoh, where he is scheduled to be produced before the court on June 4.
