Escaped Kerala prisoner returns to police station for Aadhaar card, flees again after being recognised

A jailbreak from Aluva Sub-Jail took an unlikely turn when a 28-year-old remand prisoner allegedly returned to a police station—not to surrender, but to collect his Aadhaar card, which he believed had been left behind during his earlier detention.

The gamble almost paid off before a police officer recognised him, prompting another escape.

Madhurjya Sonowal, a native of Dhemaji in Assam, allegedly walked into the Perumbavoor Police Station after escaping from Aluva Sub-Jail. Police suspect he intended to retrieve his Aadhaar card before leaving Kerala to find work in another state, according to a report by ON manorma.

Arrest and jailbreak

Sonowal had been arrested in connection with a mobile phone theft case registered at Edathala Police Station after he was accused of stealing smartphones belonging to workers at a plywood factory in the Edathala industrial area.

He was initially intercepted by Perumbavoor police on suspicion while allegedly trying to sell the stolen phones and was later handed over to the Edathala police on August 23. After being produced before a court, he was remanded to judicial custody at Aluva Sub-Jail.

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According to police sources, Sonowal escaped from the sub-jail on Monday evening during the inmates' routine recreation and bathing break.

At around 4 pm, prisoners were allowed out of their cells into the prison yard. Taking advantage of a security lapse, Sonowal reportedly scaled the prison boundary wall near the kitchen and slipped away.

Jail authorities realised he was missing only during the headcount before inmates were locked back into their cells and immediately alerted the police.

Return to the police station

Instead of disappearing immediately, Sonowal allegedly headed to the Perumbavoor Police Station and approached the sentry desk, asking for his Aadhaar card.

Police believe he assumed the officers on duty would not recognise him because the personnel involved in his earlier detention had changed after routine shift rotations.

Explaining the sequence of events, a senior police officer in Perumbavoor said, "He was arrested on Sunday in a crime under the Edathala Police Station.

The police detained him out of suspicion while he was trying to sell the phones he stole at a shop in our jurisdiction. Perumbavoor police took him into custody, and the Edathala Police took him away shortly after."

The officer added that Sonowal had spent only a short time at the station before being handed over.

"It was for a very limited time that he was held here initially. The personnel on duty had rotated out after standard day-and-night shifts. When he approached the sentry desk asking for his card, that officer could not immediately identify him," the officer was quoted as saying by the publication.

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Recognised, chased and on the run

Sonowal's plan came undone when another police officer at the station recognised him after seeing the lookout alert issued following his escape from the sub-jail.

"Another officer at the station identified him. Upon realising that he was identified, he ran out," the senior officer said.

"Even though our personnel pursued him immediately, he could not be caught. Police teams searched across the market area and surrounding locations, but he is still at large," the officer added.

Police teams chased him through the busy Perumbavoor market and adjoining roads, but he once again managed to disappear into the crowd.

Police said Aadhaar is an important identity document for migrant workers seeking employment, and Sonowal's attempt to retrieve it may have been part of a larger plan to leave Kerala and find work elsewhere.

A joint manhunt involving the police and prison authorities has since been launched across Ernakulam and neighbouring districts to trace the fugitive.