3 undertrials escape from prison; caught within 2 hours

Three undertrials escaped from a sub-jail in nearby Coonoor today but were nabbed by police within two hours, police said.

Krishnan and Kumaran, both brothers from Theni district, and Aravind of Coonoor in Nilgiris District, who have been arrested in a theft case, escaped by scaling the prison wall, they said.

Following this, check-posts were alerted and additional police deployed at strategic points to prevent the three from crossing the district border, they said.

On information that the undertrials were hiding in a tea estate, police personnel tried to catch them with the help of locals.

The trio offered resistance and allegedly hurled stones at the police personnel, three of whom suffered minor injuries, police said.

However, the policemen overpowered the undertrials and took them into custody.