Police rearrest 11 escaped convicts

JAKARTA: Eleven of the 49 prisoners who escaped from Mataram Penitentiary in West Nusa Tenggara on Sunday have been rearrested as of Monday, an official said.

Three of the 11 were arrested on Sunday as they attempted to board a public transportation vehicle in Ampenan district, while two of the prisoners were caught before they were able to escape the prison complex, the head of Mataram Penitentiary, Langgeng Triatmoko, said.

Langgeng told The Jakarta Post on late Monday that the other six prisoners were rearrested in three separate districts: Mataram, Narmada and Gunungsari.

"During the arrests, some of the prisoners resisted arrest while the others surrendered without a struggle," Langgeng said.

He said officers shot one fugitive in Mataram for resisting arrest.

The injured convict is being treated at Kemala Hikmah Hospital in Mataram, he said.

Three of the convicts have been returned to the penitentiary, while the remaining seven are being detained at West Lombok Police Headquarters, he said.

"They will be returned to Mataram prison soon," he said.

An employee at the penitentiary, Junaidi, said on Monday two staff members at the prison were wounded during the escape.

The prisoners managed to escape by taking advantage of a crowd of visitors to the penitentiary. The convicts blended in with the visitors as they were leaving the prison and forced their way through the gates.

Some 200 police personnel have joined prison officers to pursue the 38 prisoners still at large. (asa/29)