Chennai, Nov 2 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday ordered for constitution of a high-level committee

Chennai, Nov 2 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday ordered for constitution of a high-level committee

Chennai, Nov 2 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday ordered for constitution of a high-level committee

Chennai, Nov 2 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday ordered for constitution of a high-level committee under the chairmanship of retired IPS official J K Tripathy to review prison security and submit recommendations to strengthen the security of prisons in the state.

    Following the daring escape of 17 prisoners from the Thekkampatti sub-jail in Theni district on Oct 26, the Chief Minister reviewed the security arrangements in the prisons across the state, and based on the inputs received during the review, he has ordered the constitution of a high-level panel to conduct a detailed enquiry into the security lapses that led to the recent incidents of prisoners' escape, the government said in a release here.

    The committee would recommend measures to strengthen the security of prisons and also ways to prevent jailbreaks in the future, based on best practices and measures followed elsewhere in the country and abroad.

    Tripathy, former Director General of Police, will be committee Chairman, while Additional Director General of Police / DG Prisons and Correctional Services K Shankar, and retired Deputy Inspector General of Prisons S Rajendran will be the members.

    The committee will conduct a detailed enquiry into the security lapses that led to the recent incidents of escape of prisoners in Tamil Nadu, examine the existing security architecture, Standard operating Procedures, technology gaps and manpower deployment and recommend comprehensive measures to strengthen the security of prisons in the state to prevent any such occurrences in future, based on best practices followed elsewhere in the country and abroad.

    The panel will submit its report with recommendations to the government at the earliest.

    "The CM has directed that prison security shall be strengthened on a war footing and that accountability shall be fixed for any negligence in duty," the release stated.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)