A Nepalese national who escaped from Chennai’s high-security Puzhal prison by scaling its perimeter wall was arrested on Thursday, while seven prison personnel were suspended over the breach, according to a report by the Times of India. The incident has triggered an inspection of the prison premises by Tamil Nadu’s director general of prisons, Sandeep Rai Rathore.
The prisoner, identified as 21-year-old Sudeep Bogati, escaped from the facility on Tuesday night during a 10-minute guard-change period at a watch tower, the report said. Bogati allegedly pulled out solar power cables fixed along the perimeter wall and used them to climb the 23ft wall.
The report said heavy rain had caused a section of the solar-powered electric fencing to snap. This enabled Bogati to climb the wall without being electrocuted. He reportedly suffered a hip injury after jumping down from the wall and remained unconscious for nearly an hour before leaving the area.
By the time prison personnel detected the escape and began searching the surrounding area, Bogati had reached Padi, according to the report. Police traced him to a tea shop on Thursday morning and arrested him. Bogati reportedly told police that he had planned to flee to Nepal.
The episode has led to disciplinary action across two prison units. At Puzhal-I, chief head warder Kannadasan, grade-I warder M R Mani and grade-II warder Prakash were suspended. At Puzhal-II, assistant jailor Jothiraman, chief head warder Alex Krishnaraj and grade-I warders Gunasekar and Rajesh Khanna were suspended.
Bogati had been arrested by JJ Nagar police in August in a theft case, the report said. Before his arrest, he had been staying in Kalaivani Nagar in Padi and working at an electrical shop.
The reported escape highlights the dependence of high-security facilities on the combined functioning of perimeter barriers, electrical systems, surveillance arrangements and guard procedures. In this case, the reported overlap between a guard-change window, damaged fencing and the use of perimeter cables formed the immediate sequence described in the report. The account does not establish whether the fencing failure was caused by the rain alone or whether any maintenance issue contributed to it.
The suspension of seven personnel indicates that the prison department is examining responsibility across both Puzhal units rather than treating the episode only as an individual escape. The inspection by the director general of prisons is the next official step identified in the report. Further details on the findings of that inspection, or on any repair and security measures ordered at the facility, were not available in the supplied account.
