Five prison inmates, who were receiving treatment for COVID-19 at the Gallella Treatment Center in Polonnaruwa have escaped.
The escaped inmates are aged 22, 23, 26, 32, and 52 years and are drug addicts.
The police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said the inmates have been remanded at the Negombo Prison and transferred to the treatment centre after they contracted Covid-19.
The majority of the inmates are drug addicts and a special operation has been launched in the Gallella and Polonnaruwa areas by the police and security forces to locate them.