Murugesh was awarded capital punishment for killing five persons at Harale village in Kollegal on May 11, 2015

Belagavi: A convict on death row, who was awarded capital punishment for the brutal murder of five persons at a Kollegal village in Chamarajanagar district, has escaped from Hindalga Jail in Belagavi where he was lodged.

Murugesh alias Kannamucchi, 51, a native of Salem in Tamil Nadu, is the escaped convict.

Murugesh was arrested by Kollegal Rural Police for the brutal killing of five persons, including an 8-year-old girl at Harale village in Kollegal on May 11, 2015.

The Chamarajanagar District & Sessions Court found Murugesh guilty of the heinous crime and awarded him death penalty in 2017, following which he was shifted from Chamarajanagar Jail to Hindalga Jail in Belagavi, where most of the convicts who are awarded the capital punishment by Courts across the State are lodged.

Now, Murugesh has escaped from high security Hindalga prison by climbing the high wall of the prison using a pole on the night of Apr.22. Murugesh is said to have timed his escape when the jail had fewer security staff, as many jail staff were deputed for poll duty. The jail authorities suspect that some of the jail inmates may have helped Murugesh to scale the wall and escape.

This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred at high security Hindalga jail, as earlier too on Aug.28, 2010 and in 1974, a few convicts had managed to escape from the jail in the same manner as Murugesh has done now.

Meanwhile, the Chamarajanagar District Jail Superintendent, in a press release, has appealed people to call Ph: 08226-222335 or 08226-222398 in case they come across any clues about the said murder convict Murugesh.