A magistrate in Dowa has sent a 19-year-old boy to jail for 12 months for escaping lawful police custody.

State prosecutor, Sergeant Joseph Banda, told the court that, in December last year, the boy escaped from police cells after arrest for allegedly insulting a police officer on duty.

The convict, Gift Phiri, comes from Thembwe Village TA Mkukula in Dowa district.

In a related development, at least 10 suspects have escaped form Nsanje Police last night as reported by Superintendent John Timbenao of Nsanje Police.

According to Timbenao, the suspects were among 21 other suspects who were being kept at the police station.

“Brief facts of the case are that on this material date and time there were Twenty one (21) suspects in custody of which twelve were in cell number one and the other ten were in cell number two,” he said.

He further added that 20 suspects were on remand except for two of which one was a convict and another one was arrested on January 7, 2021 for alleged murder.

Meanwhile, the search for the suspects is underway.