Convict in theft case escapes from Salem prison

SALEM: A prisoner escaped from the Salem Central Jail on Thursday morning and a combing operation has been launched to nab him.
The prison staff and the Salem City Police are engaged in a joint operation to trace the fugitive. An intensive search was conducted for four km around the prison area including Judges Colony, Gorimedu and Kondappanickenpatti on Yercaud foothills. While the Prison Superintendent Karupannan flatly denied that any prisoner escaped, the Hasthampati police revealed that the name of the prisoner was Madhaiyan from Denkanikottai in Dharmapuri district. Sources said Madhaiyan was convicted in a theft case and imprisoned for two months. He was about to be released on July 7. He was taken for work to the prison garden along with few others, when he escaped.