Chennai: The incident in which 17 prisoners escaped at the same time after attacking prison guards at the Thekkampatti branch prison near Andipatti in Theni district has caused a major stir. Leaders of various political parties have also condemned it.
M.K. Stalin (DMK leader): “Following Breaking Bad, Prison Break has also begun in Tamil Nadu. I thought only criminals released on bail were not being monitored.
This government is in such a state that even prisoners inside jails are being allowed to escape. Before we could recover from the shock of two prisoners escaping from Puzhal prison, 17 prisoners have escaped from Theni district jail. They say this is the first time since 1995 that so many prisoners have escaped all at once. Such an incident in 2026, when security arrangements and surveillance facilities have improved, is unacceptable.
Criminals outside are freely committing crimes. Prisoners inside are also boldly escaping. In short, this foolish T.V.K. government is a government that is useless for everything. They are not going to protect the people. Tamil Nadu has descended into such a miserable state that the people themselves have to protect them.”
Edappadi Palaniswami (AIADMK General Secretary): “With corruption in the appointment of lawyers and court rebukes to the government already making the law department a laughingstock, and with the power department in a state of disarray due to power cuts and corruption in power procurement, the prison department has now also been added to that list.
The highlight here is that there is only one minister for three departments. The whole town is laughing and clapping at the administrative standards of C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, who is always roaming around possessed by “microphone” mania and even in his sleep keeps chanting “Anna DMK mythology.” Shameful.
When two prisoners had already escaped from Puzhal prison, the safety of Tamil Nadu’s prisons should have been ensured. But apparently this government, or the minister, has no time for such things. Right, Chief Minister Vijay, you even went to inspect Puzhal jail. Even after your inspection, is the prison department in this state? Was what you conducted really an inspection? Or, as some newspapers reported, was it an astrological remedy?
If the prison itself is in a state where prisoners attack the guards and escape, how can there be safety on the roads used by ordinary people under this clueless government?
With rising murders, crimes against women, the ruling party administrator’s drug trafficking, children continuously going missing, and prisoners escaping from jail, it would not be surprising if these so-called wonder rulers released a “150-day victory bouquet” compiling all of this. I urge this government to catch the escaped prisoners and put them back in jail, and to pay proper attention to Tamil Nadu’s law and order.”
Udhayanidhi Stalin (Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly): “If those 17 prisoners managed to escape after attacking the prison guards, it raises the question of how badly the prison department has deteriorated under this government.
The Chief Minister recently visited Puzhal Central Prison for an inspection; what action was taken based on that?
Did he issue any orders regarding the measures to be implemented in prisons across Tamil Nadu?
On one hand, children are disappearing from their homes; on the other, prisoners are fleeing from jail. Governing in a way that has become a symbol of lawlessness is this dummy Chief Minister’s achievement.”
Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK leader): “It is shocking that 17 prisoners in the Theni district jail attacked the prison guards and escaped. It is condemnable that the security arrangements in the district jail were so weak that prisoners arrested under POCSO cases and the Goondas Act were able to flee.
Scenes of prisoners escaping, which had only appeared in films, beginning to happen in real life is not a good sign. This shows that the administration of institutions such as the police and prison departments, which are supposed to maintain law and order, is weakening.”
The fact that 17 prisoners escaped at the same time after attacking all the guards in the district jail cannot be taken as a very ordinary incident. It shows the failure of the prison department.
The large gap between the time when the prisoners are said to have escaped from the prison and the time when the police department was informed about this incident has raised many doubts about it. Even after more than 12 hours since the prisoners escaped, only 4 people have been arrested so far.
All the prisoners who escaped from the Theni prison must be arrested immediately. An investigation should also be conducted into whether there was any plan behind the prisoners’ escape. Action should be taken against prison department officials who acted negligently in this matter.”
Manickam Tagore (Tamil Nadu Congress leader): “The incident in which 17 prisoners escaped from the Theni prison after attacking a guard is deeply shocking and causes serious concern.
This was not an isolated incident that happened suddenly. In 2023, there were already several repeated security lapses in Tamil Nadu involving prison escapes: Sri Lankan prisoner Riyas Khan escaped while being transported by bus to Villupuram; a life convict escaped from Trichy Central Prison; history-sheeter criminal Balamurugan, linked to 87 cases, repeatedly escaped from police custody; a prisoner escaped near Perundurai while being taken from Salem to Coimbatore; and 12 people escaped from the Chengalpattu juvenile home after attacking the guards.
Looking closely at all the previous incidents, it is clear that in the Tamil Nadu prison department, especially in suburban and rural prisons, the basic infrastructure has continued to remain weak. Immediate, systematic infrastructure changes and serious reforms are urgently needed in rural prisons.
The Tamil Nadu government must investigate the senior officials who failed to properly monitor the prison department and led to such a security lapse, and take departmental action without bias. Along with immediately apprehending the other escaped prisoners, the Tamil Nadu government must urgently take firm steps to completely restructure the entire prison department in Tamil Nadu, including suburban prisons.”
Premalatha (DMDK General Secretary): “The fact that security arrangements are so weak that prisoners confined in a prison are able to escape raises several questions about law and order and the functioning of prison administration in Tamil Nadu. Prisons are places where criminals are legally punished and sentenced. An incident in which 17 prisoners escaped from such a prison is not an ordinary one. It exposes a major lapse in the security measures of the prison department.”
In Tamil Nadu, where various complaints regarding law and order have already been raised, this incident having taken place inside a prison has created fear and anxiety among the public. How did 17 prisoners escape?
What were the officers on security duty in the prison doing? The Tamil Nadu government must immediately respond to questions about whether surveillance measures were properly carried out. The Tamil Nadu police must act swiftly to identify and arrest the escaped prisoners immediately.
Furthermore, a high-level inquiry should be conducted into this incident, those responsible for the security lapses should be identified clearly, and appropriate action should be taken against the officials who erred. It is highly condemnable that the government, which is supposed to ensure the safety of the people, has failed to ensure the security of prisons. Arresting prisoners after they have escaped is questionable.”
TTV Dhinakaran (AMMK General Secretary): “A few days ago, when two prisoners escaped from Puzhal prison, the DMK government’s Law Department and Energy Department ministers should have learned from that incident and taken proper security measures. Instead of focusing on correcting the confusion and administrative irregularities in those departments, if they had shown even a little of the same importance in the functioning of their departments as they do in their obsession with publicity and in trying to showcase their presence, they could have avoided a range of problems, from repeated power cuts to prisoners escaping.”
Already, with the public living in fear amid a series of murders taking place one after another in Tamil Nadu, the escape of 17 prisoners from jail at the same time has further heightened people’s fear and anxiety about safety.
Are there enough guards on duty in prisons? Are the surveillance cameras fully functioning? Are the procedures for prisoner security and monitoring being properly followed? Do senior officials conduct inspections from time to time? Such basic questions are being raised, and they also highlight that the overall functioning of prison administration has completely deteriorated.
Claiming to monitor the functioning of prison administration, Chief Minister Vijay conducted an inspection at Puzhal prison. Now, with incidents of prisoners escaping one after another, doubts are being strengthened about the purpose of his inspection. Did he really carry out the inspection to identify and rectify the shortcomings in prison administration? Or, as social media reports suggested, did he go there to perform a remedy on the advice of an astrologer? It is impossible to avoid the suspicion arising among the public.
Therefore, in a situation where security lapses are so severe that prisoners can even attack prison guards and escape, exposing the TVK government’s administrative incompetence and the negligence in monitoring, I urge the prison department to swiftly identify and arrest the escaped prisoners before they cause any untoward incident, and to strengthen security arrangements in all prisons across the state. I also request Chief Minister Vijay to pay special attention to this matter and take appropriate action.”
Vanathi Srinivasan (BJP): “The news that about 17 prisoners escaped from the Theni district prison last night after pretending to be unwell and attacking the prison guards is deeply shocking. This incident, which surpasses even cinema, clearly exposes the extent to which the DMK government has failed in maintaining law and order.
If the police are negligent in arresting criminals outside, they have also utterly failed in monitoring prisoners inside the jail. Despite so many police personnel on security duty, the prison department’s security has deteriorated to the point where around 17 prisoners could escape, raising serious questions. The TVK government, which has repeatedly failed to ensure the safety of the people of Tamil Nadu and maintain law and order, must take responsibility for its administrative failure.”