CHENNAI: Accusing the TVK-led government of incompetence and negligence in ensuring public safety in the light of the repeated prison escapes in the state, the opposition parties have urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to take corrective measures.
DMK president M K Stalin, reacting to the news about a prisoner escaping from the Coimbatore prison campus and the sexual assault on an eight-year-old girl allegedly by an autorickshaw driver in Chennai, wrote on X, “Again and Again!” with the hashtag ‘TVKFails’.
Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, in a social media post, said, “The state of affairs under the inefficient CM is such that prisoners could apparently play ‘inky pinky ponky’ to decide whether Palayamkottai or Salem would be the next prison to escape from. On a sarcastic note, he said prisoners are escaping from jails, having realised that the government is inept. “If anyone has to be transferred or suspended, the CM would have to transfer or suspend himself,” the DMK leader said.
Expressing shock, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said escape of prisoners has become a serial on the small screen. Palaniswami said within hours of the CM’s Office issuing a statement warning prison officials to remain vigilant or face stringent action, another prisoner had escaped.
“If the government could not even ensure the security of prisons, how could the people be expected to trust it to protect them?” he wondered.
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said Raghavan, the prisoner who escaped from the Coimbatore prison campus, attempted to flee when he was arrested by the Annoor police on Monday.
He also urged the government to strengthen prison security and take measures to prevent such escapes.
AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran said reports of more than 50 prisoners escaping from jails since the TVK government assumed office indicate prison administration has descended into disarray. He urged the CM to identify security lapses and take corrective measures.
