Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK chief MK Stalin on Tuesday slammed the Vijay -led Tamil Nadu government over a jailbreak incident in Theni, where 17 prisoners escaped.
I thought the government was only failing to monitor criminals released on bail. In a sarcastic post on X, Stalin invoked the television series ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Prison Break’ to criticise the government over the recent jailbreaks. “Following Breaking Bad, Prison Break has now begun in Tamil Nadu too! Criticising the TVK government, Stalin added, “Overall, the TVK government is a bunch of incompetent, good-for-nothing people. They are not going to protect the people. Tamil Nadu has reached a pathetic state where people have to protect themselves. Seventeen convicts serving various sentences escaped from a district jail in Tamil Nadu’s Theni. This incident has prompted police to launch an extensive search operation. Four have been caught; a search is on for others.”
Stalin said the escape of such a large number of prisoners at once was reportedly the first such incident since 1995. He questioned how it could happen in 2026 despite improvements in security arrangements and surveillance facilities. “They say this is the first time since 1995 that so many prisoners have escaped at once. Such an incident in 2026, when security arrangements and surveillance facilities have improved, is unacceptable.
But the state of affairs is such that even prisoners inside jails are being allowed to escape,” Stalin said. Criminals outside are committing crimes freely, while prisoners inside are escaping fearlessly,” he said. One of the escapees was apprehended near the prison, a police official said. Commenting on the incident, Tamil Nadu law minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said, “A prison warden went to check on a prisoner who had reportedly fainted; however, the prisoners attacked the wardens and managed to escape.
