17 accused escape from Theni district jail after assaulting police personnel

CHENNAI: Seventeen accused persons allegedly escaped from Theni District Jail after assaulting jail personnel who entered their cell following information that one of the inmates was unwell. One of the escaped prisoner has been secured.

Gr-II Police personnel Thangapandi, warden, sustained a head injury in the incident and was admitted to Government Theni Medical College Hospital.

Two other jail police personnel also sustained minor injuries.

According to preliminary information, all 17 accused persons were lodged in the same cell. When security personnel entered the cell after being informed that one of the inmates was ill, the accused allegedly assaulted them and escaped.

Following the incident, police alerted check posts across the region and shared information about the escape with the police in Idukki, Madurai and Dindigul districts.

Photographs of the escaped accused have been circulated among police personnel, and efforts are under way to trace and apprehend them.