Suspicions continued to mount yesterday that high-level prison officials may have been involved in the escape of two inmates from the Taichung Detention Center on Sunday.
Death row inmate Huang Chu-wang (黃主旺) and robbery suspect Yang Han-peng (楊漢鵬) allegedly held two prison officials at gunpoint and escaped at around 2am on Sunday morning.
One of the officers, Ruan Wen-ching (
After conducting polygraph tests on nine prison officials yesterday, investigators said they had found loopholes in Ruan's testimony, according to the Chinese-language media.
Ruan, who was on duty at one of the prison gates, said he opened the door for Hsu without question, as two officers had previously requested to go outside to make phone calls.
He said he was led to believe the pay phones within the prison complex were out of order.
But phone records show that none of the pay phones inside the prison were out of order at the time, investigators said.
Furthermore, a saw and other tools were found hidden inside a washing machine, raising suspicions that the escaped prisoners had removed their shackles before the escape, the investigators said.
In march, officers from the prison's anti-corruption office suggested that Huang be placed under 24-hour video surveillance, after they detected suspicious encounters between Huang and an unnamed prison officer, according to reports.
The suggestion was ignored at the time, the reports went on to say.
Prosecutors from Taichung Prosecutors' Office said they do not rule out possible corruption among high-level officials.
The Ministry of Justice is due to review today an investigative report filed by prosecutors from the Taiwan High Court.
Ting Yuan-chin (
Meanwhile, Cheng Long-shui (
Upon news of the escape on Sunday, the Ministry of Justice decided immediately to replace the facility's warden, Lee Tai-shun (
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