THENI: Police have arrested all the 17 inmates who escaped from the Thekkampatti sub-jail in Theni, with the arrest of the remaining four of them on Tuesday.
Subsequently, police intensified the search operation that led to the arrest of all the escaped inmates within 48 hours of the incident. Nearly 10 hours after the arrest of the duo, the remaining escapees, Meenatchisundram of Madurai and his brother Thirupathi, were arrested by Uthamapalayam police near the Cumbum-Uthamapalayam bypass road. Around 6.45am on Tuesday, police caught three more inmates — Silambarasan of Theni and Raja Sikanthar and Rajkumar of Madurai.
Praveen Kumar was the first one to be arrested. Officers moved in and captured them. On Wednesday morning the Theni district police arrested Regin and Ponmuthuselvam, according to the police sources. The first breakthrough came around 1am on Tuesday, barely four hours after the inmates escaped. By around 5pm on Tuesday, drone surveillance helped police locate an eight-member group near Varusanadu.