Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ordered a comprehensive special investigation into the escape of notorious criminal Govindachamy from Kannur Central Jail, where he was serving a life sentence in the sensational Soumya rape and murder case.
The comprehensive special investigation is being conducted, in addition to the ongoing police investigation and departmental probes.
Former Kerala High Court judge Justice CN. Ramachandran Nair and former state police chief Jacob Punnoose will be in charge of the special investigation. The decision to this effect was taken at an emergency high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the wake of the jail break
Chief Secretary A Jayathilak, State Police Chief Ravada A Chandrasekhar, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Bishwanath Sinha, Public Works Secretary K Biju, Prisons Director General Balram Kumar Upadhyay, and Additional DGP (Intelligence) P Vijayan attended the meeting
The Chief Minister said in the meeting that the incident that happened in Kannur Central Jail was extremely serious and required a detailed investigation and action to be taken. It was decided to make electric fencing fully operational in all the four major jails in the state within the next three months.
Intelligent CCTV cameras with high-resolution surveillance capabilities will be installed in these prisons, and action in this regard will begin immediately
Intelligence operations inside prisons will be strengthened. Many high-risk criminals are currently lodged in high-security prisons, and the government will also consider transferring such inmates to jails in other states.
To avoid issues caused by prison staff remaining in the same posting for extended periods, officers who have completed five years in one location will be transferred. Due to the overcrowding in existing prisons, a new Central Jail will be established. Land will be identified in the Kottayam and Pathanamthitta regions for this purpose, the meeting decided.
The Chief Minister also directed that the ongoing investigations be completed expeditiously.
Meanwhile, Govindachamy, the notorious convict in the sensational Soumya rape and murder case, who escaped from the Kannur Central jail on Friday, was shifted to Viyyur Central Jail in Thrissur under tight security, a day after he broke out of Kannur prison and was caught several hours later.
He was taken to Viyyur jail early Saturday morning amidst heavy security. The decision to shift Govindachamy (41), who is one-armed , to Viyyur jail came late Friday night.
Govindachami escaped from the high- security block of Kannur Central Jail in the early hours of Friday. He was recaptured hours after his escape and brought back to the Kannur central jail on Friday evening. Following the jailbreak of Govindachami , four prison officers in Kannur central jail have been suspended for their alleged lapses and dereliction of duty.