An accused in a Punjab rape case gave a slip to authorities after being taken into immigration custody on his arrival from Bahrain at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, officials said Monday.

While the police alleged that the accused escaped from

the custody of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, the CISF claimed he was never handed over to them by the Immigration department.

The accused, Amandeep Singh, a native of Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab had arrived at the airport from the Gulf country on an Air India flight on December 20 at 4.55 am.

Singh was stopped at the immigration department as a lookout circular (LOC) was issued against him and handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at the airport, a Delhi Police officer said quoting from the FIR lodged by the Immigration department at IGI airport police station.

Singh, accused in a rape case lodged in Punjab's Ludhiana, was on the run since April 2020, the officer informed.

According to the FIR, the Immigration department had handed over the accused to the CISF, which has the responsibility to look after airport security.

"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," another officer said. One of the officers escorting Singh had gone to the washroom when the accused escaped, the officer added.

According to the FIR, "Singh was in the custody of CISF staff on duty. Now it has been learnt that he escaped from custody at 1000 hours while CISF guard went for washroom around 0957 hours."