NAGPUR: Three juvenile girls, including two facing murder charges, made a daring escape from a government shelter home in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, on Friday. They rode 250 km on a stolen scooter before being intercepted by police in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on Saturday.
The escape began with the girls triggering a false fire alarm to trap the wardens. They smeared oil on the bathroom floor to ensure the wardens would slip and then locked them inside.
The trio then fled with a stolen scooter, a purse, and two mobile phones. One of the girls stopped at her boyfriend’s house to take some cash and another cellphone.
Riding the stolen scooter, which had no number plate, the minors crossed the state border after an overnight journey. Addicted to alcohol, they stopped at a roadside dhaba to drink liquor before continuing their journey through Deori in Gondia and crossing Bhandara to reach Nagpur, police said.
They were stopped at Nagpur’s Wardhaman Nagar Chowk for traffic violations, including not wearing helmets. The girls attempted to bribe the traffic cops, but head constable Vaishali Durugkar and constable Pooja Puri grew suspicious.
Noticing inconsistencies in the girls’ statements, the officers took them to the traffic office at Lakadganj and handed them over to senior inspector Santosh Vairagade. During separate interrogations, the girls confessed to their escape.
