Prisoner at large will be given longer jail term when caught

Sharjah: A runaway convict has been at large since Sunday and police are unable to confirm whether he is still in the country.

A senior official at Sharjah Police told Gulf News that police and immigration departments from all the emirates have been informed about the convict who escaped from jail, and that if caught, he will be charged with escaping from justice and be given a longer jail term.

The 25-year-old Omani prisoner, identified by police as Mahmoud, was serving a jail term for smuggling vehicles out of the country and taking them to other Gulf States.

The police official also pointed out that the convict had already spent more than one year at Sharjah Central Jail.

According to a senior police official, the incident occurred when the prisoner complained of pain in his lower right side. The prison doctor suspected an appendix infection and transferred the prisoner to Al Kuwaiti Hospital. The prisoner was transferred to a room at the Osteopathy Department where he escaped after removing the handcuffs and jumping out of the third-floor room.