Kannur: “No parole, poor food and the fatigue of prison life”. As per reports, these are the reasons cited by Govindachamy for his dramatic escape from Kannur Central Jail. In his statement to the police, he revealed that this was his third escape attempt in 15 years of incarceration.

“I’ve been in prison for 15 years. I’ve only done a rape. I was never granted parole, not even once,” he reportedly told police, along with a list of grievances.

According to his testimony, the saw used to cut through the iron bars was stolen from the prison carpentry unit 3 years ago and hidden inside his cell.

The escape was the result of meticulous planning over 8 months. He chose a stormy, rain-soaked night to execute his plan, even cutting down his weight to facilitate easy escape.

A prison warden recounted that Govindachamy appeared to be asleep in his cell, covered with a blanket, until around 1 am on Thursday. He was lying against the wall as usual. Earlier, there had been a complaint about a malfunctioning light in Block 10. The warden inspected the cell using a torch and found Govindachamy still wrapped in his blanket.

When images of his recapture emerged, they revealed a much thinner figure than in previous photographs. Reports suggest Govindachamy had deliberately lost a significant amount of weight, almost half his original body mass, by drastically reducing his food intake. He stopped eating rice and survived mainly on chapatis, allegedly with medical permission. The weight loss was strategic, aiding him in slipping through the narrow prison bars.

To scale the prison’s double walls, he fashioned makeshift ropes out of bedsheets abandoned by other inmates. During ongoing construction inside the prison, he obtained an axe blade, which he used to gradually cut through the bottom row of iron wires, working at it night after night for nearly a month. Authorities believe he used salt to rust the iron wire and weaken it further. His reduced body size allowed him to squeeze through the bent bars.

Govindachamy reportedly moved through the quarantine block before tying together clothes to create another rope to climb the perimeter wall. CCTV footage shows him standing beneath a tree near the prison at 4.15 am, and earlier, exiting the prison verandah at 1.15 am. Police are currently reviewing around 140 CCTV cameras within the prison compound.

Three officers on duty are believed to have been asleep during the escape. The situation became easier for Govindachamy when even the officer assigned to monitor the CCTV footage reportedly dozed off. Around 5 am, officials noticed the improvised rope hanging from the wall, prompting a cell inspection. By 6 am, it was confirmed that Govindachamy had escaped.

In his statement, Govindachamy claimed he climbed the wall over 7 and a half metres high using one hand while holding the cloth rope in his mouth.

He also changed clothes after the escape, removing his white prison uniform and donning the attire of a remand prisoner. Since remand prisoners do not wear standard prison uniforms, this disguise helped him blend in and avoid detection.

Kannur Central Jail, considered one of the most secure in Kerala, spans 40 acres and houses ten blocks. Govindachamy had been held in Block 10, a high-security unit with 68 individual cells, each occupied by only one inmate.