In yet another breach at Juvenile Observation Centre in Mukherjee Nagar, 20 more inmates fled on Tuesday night. It was result of hours-long violence by the occupants. As many as 15 inmates had run away taking advantage of the commotion at Sewa Kutir in the afternoon. During the violence many were injured, who were taken to Hindu Rao Hospital for treatment. After coming back from the hospital, they again went on a rampage in the evening which continued till midnight.
According to officials of the centre, rival groups clashed and attacked each other with blades. It was stated that a few of them left the home fearing being targeted by unruly inmates. Around 30 are still absconding.
A senior police official said that inmates used sharp-edged blades to attack each other. They held three caretakers of the centre as hostages for two hours and also broke the television set, setting ablaze 250 blankets and 80 mattresses. At the time of the incident, Senior Magisterial of the Juvenile Justice Board was also present who kept requesting the boys to back off.
"They returned from the hospital around 6 pm and again vandalised the premises and continued rioting for around six hours," a police official said adding that to save themselves from the rowdy inmates, around 20 others fled. However, five of them returned on Wednesday afternoon.
Superintendent of Adharshila observation home Anil Kumar said that the home had 114 inamtes, including those transferred from Rohini and Tihar. He said that they had vitiated the atmosphere of the correction home. "Numerous times we have requested the Senior Magisterial Judges to shift them, but no one has done anything," he added.
The rivalry between two groups began around a month back when two juveniles were brought from Rohini Jail. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment and their bone ossification test was due. "They got close with a 17-year-old juvenile, who had escaped from the observation home in October. They had also murdered a woman in Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi. This inmate runs a gang," a police source said.
It was added that there was another group whose leader was arrested from Paharganj area. These two groups were behind the violence. This is the fourth incident of rioting across State-run homes for juveniles in the last five months.