Four of 17 Prisoners who escaped from Theni jail arrested: Minister Nirmalkumar

Minister Nirmalkumar said that four of the 17 remand prisoners who escaped from the district prison in Theni after allegedly assaulting three policemen had been arrested. An intensive search operation is underway to apprehend the remaining 13 prisoners.
Director General of Police Sandeep Rathore and an Inspector General are inspecting the prison to assess security arrangements.
An inquiry is also being conducted into the security lapses that led to the escape, the Minister said.
Referring to the corruption case against a former School Education Minister and allegations that more than Rs. 400 crore had been collected in the name of a “party fund”, Nirmalkumar said the former Minister was remanded at 1.30 a.m. He alleged that crores of rupees had been collected in connection with the issuance of safety certificates to schools.
“This is not political vendetta. Legal action will be taken against anyone who has committed wrongdoing, irrespective of who they are,” he said.
The Minister also outlined the State government’s efforts to promote rooftop solar power. He said that Tamil Nadu had 87,000 rooftop solar connections until April and had received 27,000 new applications over the past five months.
The government is accelerating efforts to provide solar connections to one lakh households by March, he added.
Responding to questions about electricity tariffs and power generation, Nirmalkumar said the government was taking all necessary measures to meet the electricity requirements of the public and industries.