Two undertrials escaped from police custody in East Midnapore’s Tamluk on Tuesday morning while they were being shifted from a West Midnapore prison to the court here.

The incident occurred around 11am at a busy intersection in the town during rush-hour traffic when police were “distracted” by traffic on the road.

The rusty grills of the police van also helped the duo, Animesh Bera and Vishal Das, both in their early 40s, make their escape.

Animesh and Vishal, who had been behind bars in West Midnapore since early 2020 for violations of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, fled after Animesh managed to break the rusty grilles of the window of the police van.

The attending officers did not notice him as they were apparently trying to navigate a traffic jam at the Jailkhana More, less than 100m from Tamluk court.

Police said Animesh bolted from the window after making enough space, which attracted police attention.

Vishal then took his chance, opening the door of the van and fleeing when the cops were busy chasing Animesh and had left the van unguarded for that brief time.

After this, the alarmed police team prevented the other prisoners in the van from following the duo.

“There were nine undertrials in the van. Two have escaped,” said a police officer.

Despite frantic searches, both Animesh and Vishal remained untraced as of Tuesday late evening.

“Both the accused hail from Haldia’s Bhabanipur area,” said a police officer.

The escape prompted the setting up of several police checkpoints on district highways throughout Tuesday.

“Two prisoners have escaped and we are trying to trace them by setting up checkpoints across the district,” Tamluk subdivisional police officer Atish Biswas said.