A Sri Lankan national prisoner Riyaz Khan Razak (39) allegedly escaped from police custody while being escorted back to Puzhal prison from Madurai at Perani in Villupuram district in India on March 21, 2023 night.

An alert has been issued to apprehend the suspect who was arrested on charges of theft and offences punishable under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Passport Act, 1950. Special teams mounted vigil at Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps and settlements across the State to look for the escapee, police sources said.

Razak, lodged in Puzhal central prison, was taken to Madurai and produced in a Judicial Magistrate court in connection with a case registered against him by the South Gate police in 2019. While being escorted back to Chennai in a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation air-conditioned bus by a three-member escort team, the suspect gave the slip to the police and escaped. The bus had stopped at a restaurant near Perani for dinner when the incident took place, the sources said.

A fresh case was registered by the Vikravandi police against Razak, a native of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, for pushing the escort police personnel while boarding the bus and making good his escape. Besides the case pending in Madurai, he was involved in crimes in Ramanathapuram and Coimbatore.

On information that Razak was in the habit of staying in the vicinity of major railway stations to commit crimes, the Government Railway Police were alerted to keep a close watch in and around railway stations in Chennai, Villupuram, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Razak’s photograph was shared to all city/district police, the Coastal Security Group and other law-enforcing agencies, the sources added.

Police were investigating the antecedents of the suspect and his connections with other Sri Lankan nationals already arrested and lodged in prisons/Special Camp in other cases.

Source - The Hindu
-Agencies