6 months ago
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It was February 27, 1995. Four summers earlier astatine an predetermination rally successful Sriperumbudur, Dhanu, a termination bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, who was wide tipped to instrumentality arsenic Prime Minister of India. The LTTE was soon banned successful India. Yet, its operatives were making quality successful Tamil Nadu connected and off.
That February nighttime bore grounds to the capableness of the LTTE militants to outpouring audacious surprises. Around 10.15 p.m., 9 LTTE prisoners walked retired of 2 adjoining cells, which was strangely not locked, and made a daring flight from the Madras Central Prison. The jailhouse was past located diagonally other the Madras Central Railway Station, a round-the-clock engaged area. Once extracurricular the fortress-like situation complex, they divided into 2 groups and headed retired successful antithetic directions. All of them were detenus nether the Terrorists and Disruptive Act (TADA).
Within hours, Tamil Nadu was connected precocious alert. Security had been beefed up each around, peculiarly on territory and inter-state borders. By 1 a.m., galore policemen were intercepting vehicles going retired of Madras and checking if the facial features of the passengers matched with the facsimile images of the 9 militants handed retired to them.
News of their flight became cannon fodder for the absorption parties to people the archetypal authorities of Jayalalitha (as her sanction was spelt then). Tamil Nadu Congress Committee erstwhile president Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthi mockingly said, the LTTE cadre were each “honourably released pursuing an knowing betwixt the AIADMK and the militant outfit”.
An embarrassed medication resorted to harm control. It transferred Inspector General of Police (Prisons) T.S. Panchapakesan to the State Electricity Board, considered to beryllium a dummy post. Five situation warders were arrested and summarily dismissed from service. Seven others including the Jail Superintendent, Additional Superintendent, a Jailor, a Deputy Jailor and a Chief Head Warder were suspended from service. The authorities ordered a judicial enquiry by retired Madras High Court justice Justice G Ramanujam to ascertain the circumstances of the jailhouse escape.
Questions arose astir the apt complicity of situation unit successful facilitating the flight of the militants. “Under the jailhouse manual, the warder should fastener the cells; the caput warder should cheque whether the cells person been locked; and different warder should instrumentality complaint of the cells and again verify that they person been locked. So, either the cells were deliberately near unfastened oregon the LTTE men utilized duplicate keys,” wrote the Frontline, a sister work of The Hindu.
“What caused concern, the sources said, was that the unlocking of the rooms had not been checked either by the warder, the caput warder and the warders who came for the archetypal and 2nd shifts past night. Also, the warder who was successful the quarantine country had not blown the whistle, oregon taken immoderate contiguous steps to flash the connection and forestall the escape. The connivance of the unit successful the flight was powerfully suspected,” said a study published successful The Hindu dated March 1, 1995.
However, officers of the ‘Q’ Branch, a specialised constabulary helping which maintained surveillance connected militant and extremist activities, insisted the prisoners had escaped utilizing bedsheets arsenic as ropes, tying a alloy space astatine 1 end, which was utilized arsenic a clamp connected the wall. The Frontline said, policemen who simulated the workout concluded that it was “perfectly” feasible.
The lack of ticker towers connected the compound walls was cited to person facilitated the flight bid. A constabulary serviceman besides claimed, “It is not arsenic if the LTTE men had a escaped run. Some of the warders were overpowered and tied up.”
Luck, however, ran retired for immoderate of the escaped militants. Three of them, who managed to committee a bid to Gummidipoondi and aboriginal took a autobus bound for Srikalahasthi successful neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, were cornered by constabulary who stopped the autobus astatine Arappakkam connected the inter-state borderline astir 1 a.m. Balan and Balendran were captured, but Menon alias Kutty spot a cyanide capsule and fell dormant astatine a casuarina grove wherever helium had tally hoping to escape.
Another militant Shanmugavelu’s assemblage was recovered alongside the Cooum stream adjacent the situation complex. Balan and Balendran told the police, helium was the archetypal to standard the situation partition and leap but was injured. Realising helium can’t spell far, helium asked the others to proceed and consumed a cyanide capsule. How the militants got entree to the cyanide capsule, which each LTTE cadre were required to manus astir their necks, remained a mystery, arsenic besides their entree to immoderate cash.
The escapade invited a backlash from the situation authorities – they bushed up different TADA detenus. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties moved the Madras High Court, which directed V Radhakrishnan, the justice of the Designated Court II to sojourn the jailhouse and taxable a report. The enquiry study revealed 87 inmates including 27 TADA detenus “suffered from contusion, aggregate abrasions, bruises and lathi and rod marks.”
On March 14, the situation witnessed a riot by the inmates who were aggravated implicit the onslaught by the warders. They climbed the terrace of their blocks and “threw stones, bricks, aluminium plates and mugs into the adjacent Park railway station,” according to a contemporaneous report. They returned wrong aft protesting for 3 hours.
Tailpiece: When Balan and Balendran were nabbed they made a petition to the constabulary which embarrassed the latter. They said they were “overwhelmed by grief” implicit the decease of 1 subordinate of their radical and said they needed “some bully cigarettes” to calm themselves. The constabulary posse was not amused. The 2 had to settee for a cupful of tea. (The Hindu, March 6, 1995)
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is disposable connected the State’s wellness helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s termination prevention helpline 044-24640050)
