Patna, June 3 (IANS) Five undertrial prisoners escaped Tuesday from a court in Bihar's Jamui district, police said.

Jamui Superintendent of Police Jitendra Rana said the five prisoners had been brought to the district civil court for a hearing.

"As per the preliminary inquiry into the incident, it was found that they fled through a tunnel in the custody cell in the court premises," he said.

Rana said police have started a search operation to nab them.

Two of the five prisoners who fled were hard core criminals, police said.