A 40-year-old lawyer, who was arrested on the charge of committing a sexual offence, escaped from the police custody near Kujang, about 20 km from Paradip.
Maga Behera, a legal practitioner, had been arrested on Monday on the charge of outraging the modesty of a woman and was being forwarded to the JMFC Court at Kujang. However, he managed to give the cops a slip, said Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi.
A hunt was on to arrest the fugitive lawyer, he said. Behera was charged under Section 354 IPC, but following his escape act, another case under IPC Section-226
(unlawful return from transportation) has been slapped against him.The policemen who were on the duty when the accused managed to escape are being penalised for dereliction of duty, the SP said.