ILAM, March 31:  Less than a month after the video of the inmates playing cards and drinking alcohol inside the jail came out, one inmate has reportedly escaped from Ilam jail. According to the police, he climbed the prison compound wall and escaped. 

According to the police, 31-year-old Manraj Rai of Mechinagar Municipality in Jhapa, who was serving a jail term  for  robbery since last October, managed to escape from the prison. District Police Chief SP Dilip Ghimire said that he escaped at around 3 pm on Thursday and the incident came to light when he was not found during the evening count of prisoners. 

"We are investigating how the prisoner escaped," he said. He said that the incident will be investigated and anyone found involved will be brought to justice. 

Last February, a video of inmates playing cards and drinking alcohol inside this prison drew widespread condemnation. After that, the local administration investigated and transferred some prisoners and changed the security personnel. The administration said that the video that was released in February was taken 11 months ago and the employees and security personnel of that time were no longer deployed there. 

Another prisoner had also escaped from the same prison before this incident. Locals complain that various illegal activities are still taking place inside the Ilam Jail, but the administration is not paying attention to it.

 
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