Raja Sahani, associate attempted jailbreaks twice earlier: Cops

Bhubaneswar: Following the recapture of escaped prisoner Raja Sahani (33) on Thursday, police have revealed that he and his associate, Madhukant Rana (24), who was rearrested in Feb after their joint escape from Choudwar circle jail on Oct 3, 2025, had previously attempted twice to escape from the same prison but were unsucessful.

A case was registered against them at Choudwar police station in Cuttack on July 22, 2025.Both men, hailing from Bihar, were arrested in Jajpur district on Jan 8, 2025, for allegedly murdering two men during a jewellery shop robbery attempt in Panikoili. They were transferred to Choudwar circle jail on Feb 1, 2025, and lodged in separate single-occupancy cells in a high-security enclosure.On March 25, 2025, Rana allegedly carved an 8 to 9 inch hole in his cell wall using a paver block.

Later on July 19, jail authorities seized an iron-cutting tool and a knife from him after he tried to cut through the iron bars. “Following these incidents, jail senior superintendent Sujit Kumar Raula lodged a complaint on July 22, but despite warnings to tighten security, the duo managed to escape during Dussehra festivities in the early hours of Oct 3,” a senior police official said.Police said recapturing the fugitives was a challenging operation.

Rana was arrested on Feb 14 in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, while Sahani was tracked down in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, after police investigators reportedly tracked his girlfriend’s movements.“Our 23-member teams carried out a nationwide manhunt across at least a dozen states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand,” DCP Rishikesh Khilari said, praising the coordinated effort of officers from different ranks.Police have revealed Sahani’s extensive criminal record, with involvement in 28 cases of theft, robbery, dacoity, and murder across several states. “After escaping from Choudwar jail, he robbed a jewellery store in Mysore on Dec 28, 2025, and attempted two more robberies near Visakhapatnam on separate dates,” police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said, adding that efforts are underway to dismantle the inter-state dacoity gang to which Sahani and Rana belong.