Bhopal: Two criminals, lodged in Madhya Pradesh's Badwani jail escaped after drugging the three policemen who were taking them to Aurangabad for court appearance. But their freedom lasted just a few hours.

"The incident occurred on Wednesday near Chalisgaon when the undertrials Gagan Singh and Rahul Singh were being taken to Aurangabad court in a car loot case," Badwani police Superintendent P K Mathur said.

They offered the cops sweets laced with sedatives and ran away when the cops fell unconscious. It was not clear how the two undertrials under police escort procured the sweets and sedatives.

"But the three policemen on regaining consciousness late in the night, lodged a complaint with the Chalisgaon police about the escape of the criminals," said Mathur. The Maharashtra police arrested both of them in a few hours time.