COIMBATORE: Within a week of a prison breach in Theni, where 17 remand prisoners escaped from Thekkampatti Sub-Jail, a remand prisoner managed to escape from Coimbatore Central Prison late Friday night.
It is the second time the same prisoner has escaped from police custody, police said.
While the Theni incident drew strong criticism over a security lapse in the prison department and sparked a political storm against the government, the latest incident in Coimbatore also gained momentum.
Meanwhile, the Coimbatore City and Rural (District) police, acting on an alert from the prison authorities, have launched an intensive search to locate and arrest the prisoner.
According to police sources, the escaped remand prisoner was identified as Raghavan (25), a native of Bhavani in Erode district. He was arrested by Annur police in Coimbatore Rural district on Friday and brought to the prison for the remand process. During the process, the prisoner pushed the police personnel guarding him and managed to escape from the prison campus, police sources said.
Raghavan was convicted in a theft case in Bangalore a few months ago, and he escaped from custody while being transported from Coimbatore. Annur police booked a case against him and arrested him in Bhavani on Friday. He again escaped from police custody before being lodged in prison.
Five special teams have been formed to nab him, police sources said.
