(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan authorities have arrested all but 37 of the 139 drug dependant inmate’s hours after they broke out of a State-run rehabilitation facility in the island’s north-eastern province on Monday.
According to police and other officials the escapees were found close to the rehabilitation facility while others were tracked down in the immediate neighbourhood following information provided by local residents.
A hunt is on for the remaining inmates who are currently on the run and may seek to get out of the area using public transport, the officials added.
They are likely to be rounded up at the very earliest, they said.
The rehabilitation centre is located in Kandakadu some 194 kilometres from the commercial capital of Colombo.
The bulk of the inmates have been directed to the centre on a court order to prevent them from being sent to the remand jail.
There have also been earlier breakouts from the centre but in all the cases the escapees had been rounded within a period of 48 hours.
Monday’s break out came as different groups began to quarrel among themselves for turf superiority and in the ensuing melee a group dashed out of the premises, according to the officials.
A small pocket of soldiers guard the facility simply because it does not house dangerous and hardcore criminal elements.
In Monday’s case it was not known how the inmates had managed to breach the security surrounding the facility, the officials further added.
A probe will be initiated into the incident and steps taken to prevent a reoccurrence in the future, the officials said.
