Efforts are being redoubled to capture the five convicts who forced their way out of the Camp Street jail on Republic Day, a press release from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) said yesterday.

While calling for the continued assistance of the public by way of information to aid in the men's recapture, the release also sought to advise the escapees' relatives, close associates and other concerned persons to urge the men to accept the easiest option of handing themselves over to the police or prison authorities.

The police stated that while efforts had been intensified to capture the escapees, operations are being conducted in two phases.

Phase one entails investigations into the circumstances relating to the actual breakout while the second phase involves the advent of covert and overt operations aimed at recapturing the escapees and to this end all intelligence agencies have been activated, the release said.

According to the release, the perceived silence of the force is not tantamount to the level of its operations but rather to preserve its integrity. Activities are ongoing and would not cease until the men are recaptured.

And intelligence, the release said, has indicated that the group was operating in unison and might have added one or two persons to its number.

Andrew Douglas, Shawn Browne, Troy Dick, Mark Fraser and Dale Moore on February 23 fled the Camp Street facility through the front gate after fatally wounding a male warder and critically injuring a female prison officer.

The armed men then proceeded on foot to an adjacent street where they hijacked a car and continued their escape with police in pursuit.