Venice jewel heist suspect escapes

(ANSA) - Venice, November 14 - One of five men accused of carrying out a daring jewel heist from a show at Venice's Doge's Palace in January has escaped by climbing out of a toilet window at a police station in Croatia, La Nuova Venezia daily said Wednesday.
    Serb Dragan Mladenovic, 54, was arrested in Croatia on suspicion of being part of the gang that robbed the Treasures of the Mughals and Maharajahs exhibition 11 months ago.
    He made his escape while awaiting questioning by Italian prosecutors and police who had travelled to Croatia to quiz and charge him.
    The heist took place on January 3, the last day of the show.
    It brought together, for the first time in Italy, 270 Indian gems and jewels from the 16th to the twentieth centuries, belonging to the Al Thani collection.
    The Doge's Palace, Palazzo Ducale, housed Venetian rulers for over a thousand years until Napoleon did away with the Serenissima Republic.
    photo: Venice police chief Vito Gagliardi