Five of 17 convicts who broke out of a jail in Tamil Nadu's Theni district have been recaptured, and one of them was sent back in the auto he took after the escape.
Director General of Police (Prisons) and Correctional Services Dr Sandeep Rai Rathore and IGP South Zone Vijayendra S Bidari visited the incident site and briefly met local jail authorities.
"Four of the 17 prisoners who escaped from the Theni sub-jail have been arrested during combing operations," IGP Bidari confirmed on Tuesday. The fifth convict was arrested from an autorickshaw, which he had taken after the escape.
The unsuspecting auto driver agreed to drop him at Kanavilakku, police said. A police head constable riding a two-wheeler intercepted the auto, identified the fugitive and asked the driver to take the "passenger" straight to prison.
Action against prison personnel
Besides, nine prison staff were suspended, an investigating officer said on Tuesday. As reported by HT earlier, the prisoners escaped after allegedly staging a ruse that one of them was suffering from epilepsy and required medical attention.
"It appears that the prisoners escaped by a putting a drama as if one of them was unwell and suffering from fits or epilepsy. They overpowered the prison guards and escaped,” said IGP South Zone Vijayendra S Bidari.
Opposition slams ‘Prison Break’
The jail escape drew criticism from the Opposition in Tamil Nadu.
Former Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin slammed the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government over the incident. He said that after “Breaking Bad”, “Prison Break” has taken place in the state.
“Before the Tamil Nadu people could recover from the shock of two inmates escaping from Puzhal prison (near Chennai), last week, 17 inmates have escaped from the Theni district prison,” he said, adding that for the first since 1995 since 1995 so many prisoners have escaped in a short period. He said the incidents highlighted that the TVK government was “completely useless” and Tamil Nadu has reached a “pathetic state” where the public has to protect themselves.
Edappadi K Palaniswami, the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) termed the incident as a 'rude shock'. Taking pot shots over the visit of CM Vijay to the central prison near Chennai in July, Palaniswami asked, "You went for an inspection at the central prison near Chennai. Even after your inspection, is the prison department in such a state?
The BJP also hit out at the state government, calling the Theni jailbreak a “humiliating failure”.
The mass jail break comes a week after two inmates who escaped from the highly-secured central prison in Puzhal near Chennai on October 13. As many as 14 special teams were formed to nab the convicts. The police launched a manhunt and two days later, nabbed the two escaped prisoners in Chennai.