Mizoram Congress youth wing blames ZPM govt over prisoner escapes

The youth wing of the opposition Congress in Mizoram on Wednesday, September 2, blamed the state government for the alleged escape of prisoners from jails and accused Home Minister K Sapdanga of “inefficiency and negligence”.

In a statement, the Mizoram Pradesh Youth Congress Committee (MPYCC) expressed concern over the recent escape of a murder accused from police custody despite being handcuffed.

Denghmingthanga, 20, the prime accused in the killing of a 15-year-old girl in Mualthuam North village in Lunglei district, escaped around 1 am on Tuesday while he was in Lunglei police custody for questioning.

Police said the search for the accused was still underway.

The Youth Congress claimed that 74 prisoners had escaped from various jails across Mizoram between 2022 and August 2026, with a “significant number” of such incidents occurring during the present Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) government's roughly two-and-a-half-year tenure.

It said the escapes were particularly worrying as some of those who fled were serving life sentences in rape and murder cases, besides prisoners convicted of theft and burglary.

The MPYCC alleged that the incidents reflected lapses in the functioning of the Home Department and demanded accountability from the state government.