A notorious dug lord and a dreaded criminal wanted in more that 20 cases of murder and drug smuggling escaped from judicial custody on Monday after hoodwinking two policemen sent to guard him at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital.

The drug lord Paki Mian was admitted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital on December 19, as per the Guwahati Jail's medical officer's orders.

Mian is wanted in three cases of murder and 21 cases relating to drug smuggling. He managed to drug the two armed Assam police guards before escaping from the hospital bed,  much to the embarrassment of the Assam police.

The drug lord was a prime accused in the murder of a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence official Tarun Kumar Dutta in heart of Guwahati city, three years ago and a local journalist Mohammad Muslimuddin at Hojai in Nagoan district of Central Assam.

"The two policemen who were posted with Mian possibly had been drugged before the criminal escaped in the early hours on Monday . We have stepped up vigil on all the exit routes from the city including the railway station to prevent Mian from leaving the city," a senior city police official said.

Mian was earlier arrested by the West Bengal police in April this year near the Kolkata airport and was later handed over to the Assam police.

According to an attendant of another patient in the same ward of the hospital, the two policemen were playing cards with Mian till late last night and had drunk coffee and eaten the snacks offered by the drug lord. "Suddenly the two guards started vomitting and Mian asked them to sleep on the floor. After some time, Mian said he wanted to go to the toilet and after which he never returned," the eyewitness told media-persons at the hospital .