The Joint Services have recaptured four of the nine prisoners who escaped from the Mazaruni Penitentiary on Friday.
One of the fugitives, Trevor Mc lean, called ‘Footprints', was shot in the shoulder after the ranks cornered him and three other escapees at a house at Karrau, Mazaruni.
He is under guard at the Bartica Hospital .
Police identified the other captured prisoners as Royston Reid, called ‘Knuckles', Anil Sanichar and Alvin Shivnarine.
Kaieteur News understands that the ranks also detained a woman who may have been assisting the men with cooking utensils.
According to reports, the Joint Services ranks learnt that eight of the fugitives had been at a house which was occupied by the woman. It is unclear how Mc Lean was shot.
A source said that after Mc Lean was wounded, Reid, Sanichar and Shivnarine surrendered.
However, the four other fugitives fled into the jungle.
Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine last night expressed optimism that the other escapees would be captured soon.
“They were together…It's just a matter of time. We know where they are.”
According to Erskine, the area where the prisoners were caught is a few miles from the Mazaruni penitentiary.
He said that this meant that they had not slipped through the cordon that was set up on Friday after they escaped.
The Director of Prisons explained that there are several farms in the area, which will enable the fugitives to live off the land for some time.
Still at large are Dineshwar Sooklall, Asrudeen Khan, Kenneth Richardson, Ryan Ramfarose and Randolph Rodrigues.
At around 16:00 hours on Friday, the nine men, who were among 57 housed in the main prison, overpowered two guards and escaped into the forested area surrounding the facility.
This took place during the feeding-up exercise.
According to Erskine, after overpowering the guards, the men headed to the fence where they were spotted by another guard at one of the observation posts.
The men threatened to chop the guard after he raised an alarm and they subsequently scaled the fence and fled.
Most of the escapees are from the Essequibo Coast and it is believed that they might have been heading in that direction.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, who was also at the press conference called in the wake of the jailbreak, appealed to the relatives of the escapees and members of the public to assist the Joint Services to recapture the nine convicts.
Two policemen and two prison officers who had headed to Skull Point after the men had escaped were accidentally shot by their own ranks while scouring the area at night.
They are being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital .