20 foreigners used broken hospital window to escape

Seventeen foreigners, who were detained in Greater Noida for allegedly staying in the country without valid travel documents, have escaped from police custody, officials said Friday.

They were among the 60 foreign nationals from nine countries who were detained on Wednesday over invalid visa and passport documents and faced deportation, they said.

“Around 8.30 pm on Thursday, 17 of the foreigners escaped from the reserve police lines in Surajpur where they were lodged. They escaped after breaking open a bathroom window,” Gautam Buddh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna told PTI.

He said a police inquiry has been launched into the matter and a search operation is underway to trace the 17 foreigners, all men.

Superintendent of Police (City) Vineet Jaiswal, the in-charge of the probe, said two teams have been formed to search the foreigners who have escaped.

“They are working in coordination with the Local Investigation Unit (LIU) since it’s a matter related with foreign nationals,” Jaiswal said.