Chennai, Oct 28 (IANS) Armed guards will be deployed at all central and district prisons across Tamil Nadu from Wednesday, following the escape of 17 inmates from Theni district jail, Director General of Police, Prisons and Correctional Services, Sandeep Rai Rathore said.
The deployment forms part of a security overhaul announced after the jailbreak on Monday night exposed lapses in the handling of a reported medical emergency. Prison authorities are also reviewing security arrangements and preparing a revised standard operating procedure.
Rathore said watchtowers would have armed personnel, who would be instructed to shoot at sight in the event of an escape attempt. Under the existing practice, guards stationed in watchtowers at most prisons in the State do not carry firearms.
The department will also ensure that all prisons have functioning alarm systems. Additional security measures will be introduced after the security audit is completed and the revised operating procedure is put in place, he said.
Acknowledging security lapses at the Theni facility, Rathore said prison staff had acted in good faith when alerted to what they believed was a medical emergency involving an inmate. However, their response involved a breach of the prescribed procedure for securing gates.
Staff unlocked three gates and rushed inside to attend to the reported health problem. In doing so, they failed to lock the gates from the inside, leaving the route unsecured while they responded to the alert.
An officer described the failure to secure the gates as a major deviation from protocol. The inmates took advantage of the situation, attacked the guards and escaped, the officer said.
The account places the handling of the emergency alert and the failure to relock the gates at the centre of the security lapse. Although staff believed they were responding to a genuine health issue, the gates remained unsecured during their intervention.
The measures announced by the department cover armed surveillance and alarm readiness across central and district prisons.
Armed deployment at watchtowers will mark a change from the prevailing arrangement in most facilities, where personnel perform their duties without guns.
While the armed deployment is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, further changes will depend on the findings of the security audit and the revised procedures. Rathore said additional measures would be implemented once both stages of the review were completed.
–IANS
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