MAPUSA
Attempts by a man accused in the rape of a British woman to escape from the Colvale jail were foiled by jail authorities on Thursday. This is the third attempt to escape from prison authorities in the last two years.
According to sources, Ramchandram Yalappa, who has been in jail since 2018, had allegedly dug a hole in his cell in a bid to escape from the jail, but his plan was discovered when jail authorities were on a routine round in the prison.
Yalappa had been lodged in Cell 2 in the under-trial section of the jail. Initially, four other undertrials were also in the cell but they were reportedly involved in an argument 15 days ago and the four undertrials were moved to another cell.
On Thursday morning, Yelappa dug a hole in the wall of his cell and was preparing to escape, when some inmates informed prison staff. Jail authorities then inspected the cell and found a hole in the cell wall. This hole was on the side of the rear housing colony of the prison and he planned to escape through the forest.
Yelappa, who was later shifted to another cell at Colvale Jail, is reported to escape twice before. Yelappa had previously escaped from a Margao court while being shifted to the court for trial in June 2019 and second time from Colvale jail in September 2020.
In September 2020, Yalappa reportedly stole uniforms and raincoats of prison staff and escaped by pretending to be a staff member. He was, however, arrested in April and remanded in custody.
