Theni: An alert auto driver cut short one jail inmate’s tryst with freedom by handing him over to the authorities. Linga Prasath, a suspect in a ganja-peddling case, spent the night hiding in a govt building near the Theni sub-jail. Unable to walk fast because of a physical disability, he waited until dawn before making his way to the main road and boarding a share-auto. Meanwhile, a constable attached to a special police team spotted him in the autorickshaw and shouted to the driver to stop. The driver, Chinna Kalai, realised that Prasath, sitting in his vehicle, was among the 17 remand prisoners who had escaped from jail. “I held the inmate’s hand to prevent him from jumping out and drove directly to the prison without stopping,” he said. The autorickshaw eventually pulled up outside the very prison from which Linga Prasath had fled hours earlier. Prison staff carried him inside. A tea shop owner near the prison had also spotted Prasath that morning but assumed that he was out on parole. Prasath had planned to reach Theni, meet his family, and ask them why they had not visited him during his 10 months in custody, a DSP-ranked officer said.
