A dramatic police operation has led to the arrest of one of the three life convicts who escaped from Karnataka's Kalaburagi Central Prison, while security agencies continue an extensive search for the two remaining fugitives.

The arrested convict, 28-year-old Santhosh Basappa Metre from Bidar district, was traced near the Humnabad Ring Road on Wednesday after police received specific intelligence about his movements.

According to officials, officers asked him to surrender after surrounding the area.

When he allegedly tried to attack the police instead, warning shots were fired before personnel opened fire in self-defence, injuring him in the right leg.

Two police personnel also suffered injuries during the operation and were taken to hospital for treatment.

The arrest comes less than a day after three life convicts escaped from the high-security Kalaburagi Central Prison in the early hours of Tuesday. Investigators say the inmates first cut the grill of their barrack before using a rope fashioned from blankets, clothes and pillow covers to scale the prison's 20-foot boundary wall.

CCTV footage reportedly showed them walking away from the prison premises before boarding a vehicle.

Police have identified the other two fugitives as Mastaan and Sagar. Officials said the trio initially travelled together through agricultural fields to avoid highways before splitting up to evade capture.

Special police teams drawn from Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir and the North Eastern Range have been deployed to track the escapees, with alerts issued across Karnataka. Authorities believe the prisoners had planned the jailbreak over several days.

The escape has also triggered a parallel probe into possible security lapses and suspected insider assistance.

Investigators are examining how the inmates managed to leave their barrack, breach the prison's security system and escape from a facility equipped with CCTV surveillance and multiple layers of security.