The two were, however, rearrested later.
"Six policemen have been placed under suspension by DIG (Northern Range) Sanjay Kumar and an inquiry has been ordered into the circumstances under which two dacoits escaped from their custody", DSP, Bhadrak, K K Dangayat said.
Altogether 12 under trial prisoners including an woman inmate of the Bhadrak Special Sub-Jail were returning in a police van after being produced before the court at Chandbali yesterday when the vehicle stopped at Tihidi ostensibly for refreshment.
Though all of them were handcuffed, two of the six managed to escape. The two -- Satyabrat Mishra alias Kundu and Satyabrat Nayak alias Bapi -- were arrested four months ago on the charge of dacoity.
On a tip-off, a police team rearrested them in the wee hours today at Matto in Chandbali area when they were trying to cross the river Salandi.
The suspended policemen are: Havildar Prasad Kumar Patra, Constables Pratap Tripathy, Krushna Chandra Rout, Aswini Kumar Sethi, Subhasini Lenka and driver-cum-constable Arun Kumar Mitra.
