Two inmates of Bahrain’s Jaw Prison got away while being taken to court, a report said, while not revealing details of how the men escaped.

Sources confirmed one of the criminals on the run is Redha Al Ghasra, jailed for a combined total of 80 years after being convicted in several terror cases, according to the report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Checkpoints were set up across the country as police tried to track them down, the sources said.

It is the second time Al Ghasra, 26, has escaped from custody after he snuck out of the Dry Dock Detention Centre in May 2011 by dressing up as a woman.

Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa ordered an immediate investigation into how the inmates, who were being taken to a Supreme Criminal Appeals Court hearing, got away.

He also instructed the Reformation and Rehabilitation Directorate be moved under the supervision of the Interior Ministry's Under-Secretary, in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the incident.

The probe panel will be headed by Deputy Public Security Chief Major-General Naji Al Hashel.

"The panel will assess personnel levels at the prison to ensure they meet standards," said a police statement.

Al Ghasra was arrested on May 24, 2013. He was riding a motorcycle when he was intercepted by police at a checkpoint.

He immediately took out a pistol loaded with pellets and pointed it at one of the policemen, but was overpowered by officers and arrested.

Al Ghasra allegedly received training from Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Hizbollah.

He was jailed for 15 years and fined BD1,000 for smuggling firearms and selling and making weapons last February. The GDN earlier reported that the 26-year-old will now serve an 80-year prison sentence after earlier being jailed for 65 years in 16 separate cases. – TradeArabia News Service