Theni: All 17 undertrial prisoners who escaped from the Theni district jail on Monday night were back in custody within 43 hours, the last two surrendering at the Cumbum police station in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening.
The breakout at Thekkampatti began around 10 pm on Monday, when one inmate faked an epileptic seizure. When a guard entered the cell to help, the prisoners threw a blanket over him, assaulted him, snatched the main gate keys and fled through the entrance. Three guards were injured, one of them seriously.
The first arrest came around 1 am on Tuesday, and three more were picked up by 6.45 am. In the evening, three high-definition drones helped locate a group of eight hiding in forest near Varusanadu, and they were taken into custody. Ponmuthu Selvam and Regin were caught on Wednesday morning in the Ammachiyapuram hill area. The Madurai brothers K Thirupathy and K Meenakshi Sundaram surrendered at Cumbum later in the day.
The search was supervised by Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Vijayendra Bidari and involved 17 special teams, five Special Task Force units and four Tamil Nadu Special Police battalions. "The terrain around the prison, with dense forests and hills, was the biggest hurdle. From first light, three specialised drones were scanning the forest," Bidari said.
Director General of Police (Prisons) Sandeep Rai Rathore called the escape "human error" and a breach of security protocol. Nine prison personnel have been suspended, including two chief head warders, one grade I warder and six grade II warders.
A preliminary inquiry found that five prisoners implicated in a case registered at Vikramangalam police station in Madurai district had been lodged in the same ward, and they planned the escape. Rathore said priority would now go to separating first-time offenders from hardened criminals and ensuring members of the same gang are not housed together.
On Wednesday the prisons department began issuing self-loading rifles to watchtower staff and authorised them to open fire when attacked or to prevent a jailbreak. The measure covers nine central prisons, five special prisons for women and 13 district jails.
Five of the recaptured inmates have been remanded in judicial custody till November 10 and eight till November 11. The four arrested on Wednesday will be produced in court on Thursday. They are to be shifted to central prisons in Salem, Vellore, Cuddalore and Puzhal. The jail at Thekkampatti has a sanctioned capacity of 200 and has been functioning since January 2019.