Chennai: The opposition parties on Saturday strongly hit out at the state govt over the escape of a remand prisoner from Coimbatore Central Prison complex, alleging that repeated jailbreaks exposed lapses in security and the govt’s failure to maintain law and order.In a post on X, DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin referred to recent escapes from Puzhal prison in Chennai and Thekkampatti sub-jail in Theni district, where 17 undertrial prisoners fled earlier this week. He alleged that prisoners were escaping because they knew the state had an ‘inept govt’. “The state of governance under the ‘dummy’ chief minister is such that prisoners are deciding whether to escape from Palayamkottai or Salem by playing ‘inky pinky ponky’,” Udhayanidhi said.Taking a swipe at chief minister C Joseph Vijay, the DMK leader alleged that CM was rushing to constituencies where bypolls were scheduled, fearing defeat. If transfers and suspensions were ordered over the jailbreaks, CM would have to act against himself. The safety of the people of Tamil Nadu was being “continuously called into question”, he said.AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said incidents that were once unheard of had now become routine. The Coimbatore incident took place just hours after CM issued a statement warning prison officials against negligence. He questioned govt’s repeated assurances of tighter surveillance and the deployment of armed guards after every prison escape, saying subsequent breaches had exposed the hollowness of those promises.He also mocked Vijay with a dialogue from the actor’s film ‘Pokkiri’: “Only the mouth keeps working; everything else stays right where it is.” Warning that fugitives could pose a serious threat to public safety, Palaniswami asked, “If govt cannot even secure prison gates, how can people trust it to protect the state?”In a post on X, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss expressed concern over the rising number of prison escapes in the state and urged govt to strengthen security and take decisive action. Prison officials had failed to take necessary precautions despite being aware of the prisoner’s previous escape attempt, he said. Anbumani attributed the incident to the alleged laxity of the escorting wardens and called for a comprehensive security audit of all prisons in the state to ensure tighter vigilance.
