Rape accused escapes from custody at Delhi airport, police launch manhunt
The accused, Amandeep Singh, who was coming from Bahrain, was stopped at the airport and handed over to the CISF. However, he escaped from custody.
A rape accused has escaped from the custody of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the New Delhi Airport, where he arrived from Bahrain, police said on Monday.
The accused, Amandeep Singh, against whom a lookout notice was issued, was taken into custody at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport upon his arrival on December 20. However, he managed to flee by jumping the arrival gate, police officials said.
Following the incident, the Delhi Police have formed several search teams and launched a manhunt to trace the accused, who has been absconding since April 2020. A fresh case has also been registered against him.
The Delhi police allege that the accused escaped from the custody of CISF personnel. However, the central force claimed that he was never handed over to them by the Immigration department, news agency PTI reported. According to the FIR, the immigration officials stopped Singh at the airport, and he was handed over to CISF.
"The CISF personnel were on the way to handing him over to the Delhi Police when he fled from their custody by jumping from counter number 33 in the arrival section of the immigration department at about 10 am," an officer was quoted by PTI.
When one of the CISF officers escorting him went to the washroom, Singh escaped from custody by jumping a gate at the arrival immigration area, the officials added.
The CCTV visuals outside the airport showed Singh walking away from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 after coming out of the Immigration area.
The accused is facing a rape case lodged in Punjab's Ludhiana.
Meanwhile, the CISF has reportedly initiated an internal enquiry into the incident.