Two prisoners escape from Puzhal jail in 24 hours

Chennai: Two inmates — a Nepalese undertrial and a convict serving a sentence in a Pocso case — escaped from the Central Prison at Puzhal, raising concerns about jail security in Tamil Nadu. Both are unrelated incidents that occurred within a span of 24 hours.

While the undertrial, K Sujith Buhari, 21, from Nepal, is suspected to have scaled up the compound wall to escape on Tuesday, another convict, Suresh, slipped away from a prison-run bazaar while attending to customers on Wednesday. Sujith Buhari had been lodged in Puzhal-II for the past two months after being arrested in connection with a theft case registered by the JJ Nagar police.

Prison sources said his family from Nepal had settled in Chennai and that he was arrested on charges of stealing money from his employer. On Tuesday, Sujith was assigned to sweep a prison block around 6am.

While cleaning the premises, he complained of an ear problem and visited the hospital. He is suspected of having used a lungi left behind by another inmate and wires extending from the watchtower to climb over the wall.

Sources said he may have climbed up a 23-foot-high compound wall near the watchtower and interview room, which separates the prison premises from the main road. While officials were trying to trace Sujith, another inmate went missing on Wednesday morning.

Suresh, a convict in a Pocso case registered by Maduravoyal police in 2019, escaped from a prison-run bazaar around 10.30am. He had been lodged in Puzhal-I and was assigned work at the outlet based on his conduct in prison.

He was attending to customers when he escaped. Prison officials lodged a complaint with Puzhal police on Wednesday.

Police have formed a special team to trace both inmates and are examining CCTV footage from the prison premises. They have intensified the checks inside the prison as well.

The last jailbreak at Puzhal was on Dec 23, 2023, when a 32-year-old woman escaped by blending into a crowd of visitors. A Jayanthi of Bengaluru, who had moved to Semmencheri with her family five years ago, was arrested for theft and lodged in the special prison for women in Puzhal in Oct.

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