A day after Theni jailbreak, 13 out of 17 escapees apprehended

The Tamil Nadu police have arrested 13 among the 17 remand prisoners who escaped from the District Jail at Thekkampatti in Theni district on Monday, October 26. A search is underway for the remaining four escapees.

According to the Prison Department's press release issued on Tuesday, October 27, the jailbreak occurred around 10 pm, when some inmates raised an alarm claiming that a prisoner in the third block was experiencing an epileptic seizure.

When the Grade II warder on duty in the block, Stalin Prabhu, entered to check on the inmate, the prisoners allegedly attacked him and attempted to escape. They subsequently confronted the guards at the main gate, snatched the keys, and opened the main entrance to flee the premises.

According to preliminary reports, all 17 prisoners were lodged in the same cell. The District Jail at Thekkampatti has an authorised capacity of 200 inmates. However, 334 prisoners were housed there at the time of the incident, the Prison Department said in the release.

Earlier in the day, the police had arrested five escapees, identified as Praveenkumar, Silambarasan, Raja Sikkandhar, Rajkumar, and Lingaprasath. The names of the eight who were arrested later are yet to be shared. Preliminary reports indicate that several of the escapees are from Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Salem, and Villupuram districts and were lodged in the jail in connection with various criminal cases.

The Theni district police deployed 17 special teams to trace the escapees. Nine prison staff members were suspended for dereliction of duty. Public who have information about the absconding prisoners can contact 94981 01570 or 91761 04100 to report their whereabouts.

A case was registered at Kandamanur police station under Sections 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 296(b) (obscene acts in public), 118(1) (causing hurt by dangerous weapons) 309(4) (robbery), 109 (attempt to murder), 262 (attempts to escape from lawful custody) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Top officials including Director General of Police (DGP) (Prisons and Correctional Services) Sandeep Rai Rathore, Inspector General of Prisons (IG) RK Kanagaraj, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons (DIG) Madurai Range A Murugesan, Madurai Central Prison Superintendent R Krishnaraj, Inspector General of Police, Madurai South Zone, Vijeyndira Bidari, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Madurai Range, Dr Abinavkumar, and Theni Superintendent of Police KS Praveen Gowtham visited the jail.

Reacting to the incident, former chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin described the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government as “good for nothing”, alleging that people have been left to protect themselves.

“I thought the government was not monitoring criminals released on bail. But the situation is such that it is allowing even prisoners inside jails to escape. Criminals outside are committing offences freely. Prisoners inside are also escaping boldly," he said.