In December 2007, about 300 inmates including, 110 Naxalites, escaped from the Dantewada jail in Chhattisgarh in a daring incident. The inmates overpowered the prison guards in a planned action, when they were being served food.

It began with a Naxalite by name Sujit Kumar overpowering a jail guard inside the prison and snatching his weapon. Kumar then fired and injured three other guards.

It seems as if the Dantewada jailbreak was just waiting to happen. The prison officials had identified 185 prisoners — mostly Naxals — as extremely dangerous and even sought court permission to shift them to the Jagdalpur Central Jail. Inquiry revealed that the capacity of the jail was 175 prisoners but it had 377 inmates.