Vadodara: A murder-accused escaped from police custody when four Madhya Pradesh policemen took him along to Pavagadh after a court hearing in Halol on Tuesday. In a clear act of negligence, the cops, who wanted to seek blessings from the goddess Mahakali at Pavagadh, took the accused along. He then escaped amidst the crowd of devotees.

Legally, the police are required to take any undertrial directly to jail or a police station after a court hearing. However, the officers from Mandsaur police station, who had brought the accused, Dashrath Jaat, to the Halol court for a hearing, couldn’t resist visiting the temple. Jaat seized the opportunity to flee when the policemen were boarding the ropeway and vanished into the crowd. Despite the officers’ efforts to catch him, Jaat was nowhere to be found. Pavagadh police have initiated a search for him and registered a complaint. The policemen are likely to face disciplinary action for dereliction of duty.

Jaat was initially booked by the Rajgadh police in Panchmahal district for drug trafficking in 2022 and was wanted in that case. He was recently arrested by Madhya Pradesh police in connection with a murder. DeshGujarat