Coimbatore: A convict prisoner who was on the run for 75 days was arrested from Mullai Nagar near O’ Valley at Gudalur in the Nilgiris district on Friday night. He had escaped with 28,000 in cash, from ‘Freedom,’ a fuel station run by the prisons and correctional services department on Bharathiyar Road in Coimbatore, on October 29, 2023.
The arrested prisoner has been identified as S Vijay Rathinam, 32, from Mullai Nagar in O’Valley at Gudalur in the Nilgiris district.An officer said he was sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment by a sessions court in 2019, in connection with a Pocso Act case.
Race Course police in Coimbatore city and four special teams from the Coimbatore central prison had been on the lookout for Vijay Rathinam over the last 75 days. Police said the prisoner managed to evade cops for so long by alternatively staying at his relative’s house in Gudalur and hiding inside the reserve forest.
On Friday night, deputy superintendent of police V Selvaraj and team received a tip off on the escaped prisoner was hiding at a relative’s house in O’Valley at Gudalur. A police team surrounded him when he attempted to escape from the house. He sustained a fracture on his left leg when attempting to flee from the police. He was admitted to the Udhagamandalam government hospital for treatment.
Earlier in November 2023, police personnel from New Hope police station in Gudalur sub-division, tried to nab him following a tip-off.
However, he assaulted a cop and managed to escape. Police had registered a case against Vijay under section 323 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code, following that incident.
Prison authorities had suspended three prison warders, Jaganathan, Kaniraj, and Vignesh Kumar who were also on duty when Vijay escaped from the fuel station.
Kattoor police in Coimbatore city have registered a case against the prisoner.
The arrested prisoner has been identified as S Vijay Rathinam, 32, from Mullai Nagar in O’Valley at Gudalur in the Nilgiris district.An officer said he was sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment by a sessions court in 2019, in connection with a Pocso Act case.
Race Course police in Coimbatore city and four special teams from the Coimbatore central prison had been on the lookout for Vijay Rathinam over the last 75 days. Police said the prisoner managed to evade cops for so long by alternatively staying at his relative’s house in Gudalur and hiding inside the reserve forest.
On Friday night, deputy superintendent of police V Selvaraj and team received a tip off on the escaped prisoner was hiding at a relative’s house in O’Valley at Gudalur. A police team surrounded him when he attempted to escape from the house. He sustained a fracture on his left leg when attempting to flee from the police. He was admitted to the Udhagamandalam government hospital for treatment.
Earlier in November 2023, police personnel from New Hope police station in Gudalur sub-division, tried to nab him following a tip-off.
However, he assaulted a cop and managed to escape. Police had registered a case against Vijay under section 323 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code, following that incident.
Prison authorities had suspended three prison warders, Jaganathan, Kaniraj, and Vignesh Kumar who were also on duty when Vijay escaped from the fuel station.
Kattoor police in Coimbatore city have registered a case against the prisoner.