Four prisoners escaped from a jail in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, PTI reported. Top police officials went to the prison investigate the incident and security has been increased in the bordering state of Rajasthan. Efforts are on to trace the four accused.

Two of the escaped prisoners were convicted for smuggling drugs and the other two were charged in murder and rape cases.

According to preliminary investigation, the four prisoners were identified as Nar Singh (20), Pankaj Mongia (21), Lekh Ram (29), and Dubey Lal (19). State Director General (Prisons) Sanjay Choudhary has announced a bounty of Rs 50,000 for information on the whereabouts of the four prisoners.

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Police said the accused cut iron rods at their barracks at the sub-jail in Kanavati area, which is about 5 km from the district headquarters. Jailor RP Vasuna told the news agency that the prisoners then threw a rope across the jail’s 22-feet-tall boundary wall, climbed it with the help of outside support and managed to sneak out.

Singh who hails from Udaipur, and Mongia, from Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, were convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Ram is a native of neighbouring Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh. He was jailed in a case of loot and murder. The fourth accused, Lal, is a resident of the state’s Mandla district. He was facing a trial in a rape case.

Rajasthan jailbreak

The jailbreak in Madhya Pradesh came a day after three men convicted of rape escaped from the Jhalawar district jail in Rajasthan, PTI reported. One of them was later traced, the police said on Sunday.

Balmukund Rathore (34) of the district’s Dug town, 25-year-old Dinesh Parjapati of Moriyakhedi village, and Sohan Kumar Suthar (27) of Pidawa town jumped over the prison’s 18-foot-high wall using blankets on Saturday morning, said the jail’s Deputy Superintendent Rajpal Singh. Their escape was noticed only during the evening roll call, he added.