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Theni jailbreak: All 17 escaped prisoners back in custody after arrest of remaining 4
Brothers K Thirupathy and K Meenakshi Sundaram surrendered at the Cumbum police station in the district.
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The four convicts out of the total 17 prisoners who were on the run after making an escape from the Theni jail were arrested on Wednesday, police said.
While two prisoners, P Ponmuthuselvam and R Rejin, were traced by one of the 17 special teams formed to nab the convicts, brothers K Thirupathy and K Meenakshi Sundaram surrendered at the Cumbum police station in the district, officials said.
Drones used to trace two prisoners in forest area
P Ponmuthuselvam and R Regin were nabbed using drones at the Kottaipatti foothills located behind the jail in a dense forest area. They were nabbed by a team led by the Superintendent of Police K S Praveen Gowtham, officials said.
Also read | Theni jailbreak: 13 of 17 recaptured after drones track inmates hiding in jungle; 9 prison staff suspended
When HT reached out to DGP Prisons Sandeep Rai Rathore on Wednesday, he confirmed that Thirupathy and Meenakshi Sundaram, who were on the run, surrendered later this afternoon at the Cumbum police station and they were taken into custody.
With this, all 17 inmates were taken back into custody.
17 prisoners recaptured after two-day manhunt
Based on the instructions of Rathore, an intensive operation was launched on Wednesday to secure four of the 17 convicts. On Tuesday, 13 of them were recaptured by the police.
DGP Tamil Nadu Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal spoke to his DGP Keralam R A Chandrasekhar and requested him to maintain alertness in districts bordering Keralam and Tamil Nadu to nab the prisoners.
Also read | 13 captured, hunt for four others underway after Tamil Nadu jailbreak
The special teams formed undertook combing operations in various locations, including vehicle checks. The services of Armed Reserve, Tamil Nadu Special Police and Special Task Force were utilised as part of the manhunt.
According to the police, the 17 prisoners allegedly overpowered guards and escaped after one of them feigned an epileptic seizure in the prison’s third block, said officers. The accused were involved in various cases including offences for murder, robbery, drug-related offences and offences under the Arms Act.
The 13 prisoners who were recaptured on Tuesday are -- P Sabarinathan, M Muthu Elangovan, N Karthickraja, C Dharunkumar, N Solaimugileswaran, S Pandiselvam, M Karuppusamy, G Nishanth,J Lingaprasath, K Rajkumar, A Raja Sikkandhar, S Silambarasan, T Praveen Kumar.
DGP Tamil Nadu Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, DGP (prisons and correctional services) Sandeep Rai Rathore, IG (prisons) R Kanagaraj and others visited the jail on October 27 and reviewed the situation.
Nine prison personnel, including two jail wardens, were suspended, according to an investigating officer.
The Theni district jail has been functioning since January 10, 2019. It has a capacity to accommodate 200 prisoners.
Following the jailbreak incident, multiple cases were filed at the Gandamanur Police Station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 121 (1) (causing hurt to a public servant from performing their official duties), BNS 296 (b) engaging in obscene acts, BNS 115 (2) (causing hurt by using a weapon), among others.
The jail escape drew criticism from the opposition in Tamil Nadu, with DMK President M K Stalin and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami slamming the government over the issue.
The mass jailbreak 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.
