Two dreaded criminals including a murder convict escaped from Haridwar district jail, officials said on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday night when a 'Ramleela' was being staged at the jail, they said.

According to officials, Pankaj and Rajkumar escaped the premises using a ladder that was brought for construction purposes.

A search has been launched to nab the duo, the officials said.

They said that Pankaj hailing from Roorkee in Haridwar was serving life sentence for a murder while an undertrial prisoner, Rajkumar was from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

On Saturday, Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Doval and District Magistrate Kamendra Singh visited the jail to conduct an inspection, they said.

A forensic team and a dog squad were also called on the spot to inspect the scene and collect clues, they added.

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