Deadly Escape Plan Unfolds at Rehab Center as Inmates Turn Killers to Flee Restrictions

In a shocking turn of events, a drug rehabilitation center in Dehradun became the scene of a gruesome murder carried out by two patients desperate to escape what they called suffocating restrictions. The incident has left the local community rattled and raised serious questions about safety and mental well-being inside such facilities.

The attack was meticulously planned. According to the center’s management, the accused confessed that their primary motive behind the killing was to get out of the rehab and into jail, believing prison would be a more bearable alternative. Denied access to their addictions and subjected to strict rules, the duo hatched a chilling plot to carry out a murder that would ensure their arrest.

On the night before the attack, the suspects had allegedly planned to target the center’s owner. However, widespread CCTV surveillance made it impossible. The very next day, they turned their focus to a fellow patient who was physically disabled and unable to defend himself. Using a spoon, they repeatedly stabbed the victim in the neck and chest after first smothering him with a pillow.

Both accused belong to Bathinda in Punjab and had been admitted to the center through a former patient. One of them had a history of attempting to flee the facility and had only recently been re-admitted by his family. The other had joined the center just weeks before the murder.

The victim, Ajay Kumar, was a middle-aged man struggling with alcoholism. He had been admitted to the center on April 8 by his family in hopes of recovery. Tragically, he never got that chance. He leaves behind a grieving family—his elder son serves in the Uttar Pradesh Police, his younger son works in marketing, and his wife is a primary school teacher.

The center, which was established in 2018 and currently houses 56 patients with 14 staff members, is now under intense scrutiny. Investigations are underway, and security protocols are expected to undergo a serious overhaul in the wake of this chilling incident.

How two troubled minds turned a place of healing into a crime scene has sparked debate on the urgent need for better mental health support, even within rehabilitation spaces.