Balasore, Oct 22: Following the escape of an undertrial prisoner from Soro Jail in Balasore district, two warders have been suspended for dereliction of duty. The suspension was confirmed today by Director General (Prisons) Susant Kumar Nath, based on preliminary findings indicating negligence on the part of the jail staff.

The suspended warders have been identified as Banamali Behera and Bikash Behera, both of whom were on duty at the time of the escape. They were found guilty of negligence after an internal inquiry.

The escape took place on Tuesday evening, when the inmate, Deepak Kumar Roy—a native of Dhanbad in Jharkhand’s Bokaro Steel City area and an accused in a theft case—reportedly scaled the prison wall using blankets and fled from Ward No. 4.

Following the incident, Jailor Manoranjan Pratihari from Baripada Circle Jail visited the Soro facility on Tuesday night to conduct a preliminary probe. Today, Balasore SP Pratyush Dibakar also reached the jail for an on-site investigation and returned after completing the inquiry.

DG Susant Kumar Nath has further directed Additional DG Amitabh Thakur to conduct a detailed investigation. Two Senior Superintendents of Jail have been included in the probe team to assess the security lapse.

This incident marks the second jailbreak in Odisha within a month. Earlier, two inmates had escaped from Choudwar Circle Jail in Cuttack.

Meanwhile, DIG (Prisons) Cuttack Range, Anushaya Jena, visited Choudwar Circle Jail today to investigate the earlier jailbreak and examine reports of inmate clashes.