One of 11 escaped Maguindanao inmates trusted with cell keys, police admit

One of the 11 inmates who escaped from the Maguindanao Provincial Jail early Tuesday was a "jail trustee" who held the keys to some of the cells in the jail, a police official admitted. Cotabato City police OIC Senior Superintendent Danny Reyes said inmate Basco Puas held the keys to Cells 1, 3, 6 and 8, radio dzBB's Benjie Liwanag Jr. reported Wednesday. Puas and 10 other inmates bolted the jail before dawn Tuesday after sawing off an iron grille near the comfort room of the jail. At least two of the escaped inmates had been recaptured less than 24 hours after the incident. The report said Yuslem Macmod was recaptured shortly after the escape, while Kagkem Umar was caught by a tracker team. Reyes said police have dispatched tracker teams to join the Philippine Marines and Philippine National Police's elite Special Action Force in tracking down the inmates. "Continuous ang pursuit operation," he said in an interview on dzBB Tuesday, adding the inmates are considered "high security." — LBG, GMA News