Chandigarh: In a daring jail break, three of the nine accused in the assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh escaped along with another undertrial from the high security Burail jail today (Jan 22, 2004), prison and police sources said.

The three, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh accused in Beant Singh assassination case and Ved Singh, who was attached as a helper (langari), escaped breaking at least three security cordons by digging a tunnel of around 100 feet from their barrack to a spot outside the boundary wall of the jail, sources said.

Chandigarh Police has alerted neighbouring States, including Punjab and Delhi, in view of forthcoming Republic Day functions. Police in neighbouring areas, especially where the escapees have known persons, have been put on extra alert.

Railway stations and airports have also been alerted, the sources said, adding that senior civil and police officers, including Home Secretary of Chandigarh, were holding a review meeting inside the prison.

The escape came to notice this morning when the jail staff did not find Hawara, a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) militant, Tara, a taxi driver, Paramjit Singh, who had recently been brought from Jammu Jail, and Ved Singh, all of whom were lodged in one barrack.