Kannur: Kerala Police have constituted a special team to locate a convict who eloped from the Central Jail here on Sunday morning. 

Authorities suspect the involvement of the drug mafia in the jailbreak of Harshad, who was serving time for smuggling the synthetic drug MDMA.

The special team is led by Assistant Commissioner T.K. Ratnakumar and Kannur Town Police Inspector P.A. Binu. According to reports, the officials travelled to Bengaluru in search of Harshad after receiving clues that he had fled the state. 

There are suspicions of a well-planned jailbreak, with Harshad allegedly using his newspaper collection routine as a cover. The cops are observing the activities of a drug gang linked to Harshad. The officials also questioned his relatives and friends. 

It is suspected that Harshad had arranged a fake passport to leave the country. He has already attempted to flee the country. The cops have issued a lookout notice to every airport in the state. 

The lapse in security at the central jail is being attributed to the absence of adequate staff. Following the incident, the jail superintendent filed a complaint with Kannur town police, and a report on the incident has been submitted to the jail DGP.