17 remand prisoners escape from a sub-jail in Theni district; combing operations lead to arrest of four persons: IGP

A view of the Thekkampatti sub-jail near Andipatti in Theni where 17 remand prisoners made their getaway.

In a coordinated escape bid, a total of 17 remand prisoners made their getaway from the Thekkampatti sub-jail near Andipatti in Theni district at around 11 p.m. after attacking the warders on Monday (October 26, 2026).

Following this, the district police have sounded an alert and deployed a large posse of personnel across check-posts.

Inspector General of Police (South zone) Vijayendra Bidari rushed to the spot and held an inquiry with Theni Superintendent of Police Praveen Gowtham and others.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that all the 17 inmates were locked in a cell. At around 10.30 p.m., a few among them had called the warder on duty claiming that an inmate suffered seizures (epilepsy) and sought assistance.

Believing this, the staff opened the cell and went inside, wherein the other inmates assaulted the personnel and made good their escape.

As the news spread, the police stepped in and deployed more personnel in and around the sub-jail.

The IGP said, “One of those who escaped, identified as Praveen Kumar, was secured within a few hours and three other persons were also nabbed by the teams, taking the total arrest to four.

As many as 17 special teams have been formed. Combing operations are underway to secure all the remaining accused,” he added.

Another officer in the special team told The Hindu on Tuesday (October 27, 2026) that many of the accused were from Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Salem and Villupuram districts. They were serving their terms in different criminal cases.

Public can contact 9498101570 or 9176104100 if they have any information about the prisoners who escaped.

Lingam, Raja Sinkanthar, Karuppasamy, Silambarasan, Thirupathi, Maenchi Sundram, Sabari, Pon Muthu, Nijanth, Karthik Raja, Mugilan, Selva, Tharun, Rajkumar, Praveen, Muthu Ilango, Rajuveen