KANNUR: Friday, 6am. Time for the routine inspection at the high-security 10th block of Kannur Central Jail. As soon as the officials begin, they find something is not right. One of the prisoners, a life term convict, is missing. Within seconds, the Kannur Town Police is alerted. And so begins the manhunt for Govindachamy, a convict in a rape-murder case. As the officials later learn, he escaped around 4.30am.
A massive search operation led by Town CI Sreejith Koderi and overseen by Kannur City Police Commissioner P Nithin Raj is launched. The police talk to locals. ‘Have you seen this man?’ is the question of the day.
As the hours pass, the police widen their search ambit. Around 9am, Binoj, a passerby, spots one-armed man walking on the bypass road at Thalap, around 3.5km away from the prison. Suspicious, Binoj calls out to him.
‘Eda!’ No response. Binoj tries again: ‘Govindachamy’.
The man panics, jumps over a wall and runs into an abandoned building. Binoj alerts the police. The cops arrive within five minutes. As word spreads and locals gather, Govindachamy flees from the abandoned building and hides inside a well on the premises of the National Statistics Office nearby. The minutes tick away. At 10.40am, Unnikrishnan, an employee checking the place, spots the net covering the well out of place. He peers inside and is stunned.
There is a man inside, clutching on a rope. ‘I will kill you if you tell anyone,’ he says. Unnikrishnan pays him no heed and calls the police. Together, the police and the residents pull Govindachamy out, ending a six-and-a-half-hour-long manhunt.
He is immediately taken to the Kannur Police Training Centre for questioning. During interrogation, Govindachamy reveals his plans: He would take a train to Guruvayur, commit thefts for money, and escape to Tamil Nadu. However, unfamiliarity with the area upends his plan. By 4pm, Govindachamy is brought back to Kannur Central Prison for evidence collection. Inside his cell, over one hour, he explains his escape plan to investigators in detail. By 6pm he is produced before the Kannur First Class Magistrate Court and is sent to 14-day judicial custody.
His short ‘trip’ to the outside world cut short, Govindachamy will now soon return to life in jail. However, Kerala will continue to talk about the events of July 25, 2025, as well as dissect and examine the lapses in the functioning of what is one of Kerala’s most secure detention facilities.
Cellmate being questioned
There were reports that Suresh, Govindachamy’s cellmate at the central jaill and also from Tamil Nadu, has been taken into custody for questioning to determine whether he had any knowledge of Govindachamy’s plan or played a role in his escape. However, the prison officials refused to confirm the same.