TN jailbreak: 17 undertrials escape from Theni sub-jail, 4 recaptured

Theni: Seventeen undertrial prisoners overpowered prison guards and escaped from the Thekkampatti sub-jail near Andipatti here, police said on Tuesday, October 27.

The incident happened late Monday. However, four of them were recaptured shortly after the major jailbreak.

The inmates had pulled off a coordinated escape by faking an epileptic seizure.

A few prisoners in the shared cell called out to the warden on duty, claiming an inmate was severely unwell and needed immediate assistance, police said.

When prison personnel unlocked and entered the cell to help, the inmates launched a sudden, violent assault, overpowered the security staff, leaving three officers injured and fled the premises.

A massive multi-district and interstate manhunt has been launched across this southern state, and neighbouring Keralam police have also been alerted. Active combing operations are underway across the border in the forest patches of the Western Ghats and the Idukki district.

On Tuesday morning, police said they have re-arrested four of the escapees who have been identified as Praveen Kumar, Silambarasan, Raja Sikandar, and Rajkumar, while the 13 fugitives remain at large.

Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Vijayendra Bidari has formed 17 special teams to track the escapees and also intensified vehicle checks in the neighbouring Dindigul district too, as many of the undertrials belong to Madurai and surrounding areas.

Local police have been put on high alert. A high-level investigation is underway to probe the severe security lapse at the sub-jail facility, a source said.

The incident has triggered a sharp political row in the state, with the opposition parties targeting the ruling TVK, calling the jailbreak a humiliating security failure and criticising Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay over the state’s law and order situation.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the news that 17 prisoners have escaped from Theni district jail is “shocking.”

“The law department has already become a laughing stock due to the corruption in the appointment of lawyers and court cases against the government. The electricity department is mired in a power purchase scam and frequent outages. Now the prisons department has joined the list. The highlight of this is that one minister is handling all three departments,” Palaniswami said in a statement.

“The whole town is laughing at the administrative qualities of Minister R Nirmal Kumar,” Palaniswami said, taking a swipe at the minister and recalled that two prisoners escaped from the Puzhal Jail in Chennai.

“It seems that this government and the minister do not have time for all that,” he remarked.

Flaying CM Vijay on the law and order situation, Palaniswami said when the prison itself is not safe, with the prisoners attacking guards to escape, how can the common man be safe on the roads under this regime?

Increasing murders, crimes against women, drug trafficking allegedly with the involvement of some TVK functionaries, children who continue to disappear, prisoners escaping from prison — described the prevailing situation under the TVK rule, he said, and urged the government to nab the escaped prisoners and put them back in prison, besides pay proper attention to law and order in Tamil Nadu.

BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said, “The Theni jailbreak is a humiliating failure of the TVK government and a direct indictment of CM Vijay’s administration. Seventeen undertrial prisoners escaped from the Theni sub-jail on the night of 26–27 October 2026 after the most basic of ruses. All were held in one cell. While one faked a seizure, the rest waited. Staff opened the door and were attacked as the inmates walked out, while Grade II personnel Thangapandi suffered a head injury.”

This was not a high-risk breakout. It was a crude fraud that succeeded because prison security under the TVK government is in a state of collapse, he said on ‘X’.

The Theni jailbreak is a humiliating failure of the TVK @TVKPartyHQ government and a direct indictment of @CMOTamilnadu , C. Joseph Vijay’s @TVKVijayHQ administration. Seventeen undertrial prisoners escaped from the Theni (Thekkampatti) sub-jail on the night of 26–27…

— Narayanan Thirupathy (@narayanantbjp) October 27, 2026

Packing so many remand prisoners together, failing to verify a medical claim before opening a cell, and allowing an entire group to overpower staff and exit is nothing but the incompetence, mismanagement and maladministration of the TVK government.

“The lacklustre response by the authorities so far, routine announcements of teams and combing operations while prisoners (13) remain at large, shows an administration that treats law and order as secondary. When undertrials can stage a fake medical emergency and simply leave a government facility, the failure sits with the concerned minister — CTR Nirmal Kumar, Minister of Prisons and the Chief Minister who holds the relevant portfolios,” he said.

The injured staff must be protected and supported. The remaining fugitives must be recaptured immediately. More critically, the officers whose negligence made this possible must face consequences, and the TVK government must explain how a sub-jail could be breached so easily months after it took charge.

Photo-op inspections and empty assurances by the concerned minister will not suffice. Until the TVK government demonstrates basic competence in its duty, this jailbreak will stand as clear evidence of its failure on law and order, the BJP leader said.

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