K. Moorthy (35), a remand prisoner, managed to escape from the sub-prison at Avinashi on Thursday.
He had reportedly scaled over the compound wall after leaping on pipeline and some concrete structures to escape, according to police sources. Earlier reports said he leapt on a motorcycle parked on the prison campus and scaled over the wall.
Sources in Avinashi police, where a case was registered on the incident, said the prisoner escaped while he, along with the other inmates, was involved in the cleaning of the prison campus in the morning. Moorthy was in Avinashi sub-prison since August 30 after he was arrested in a robbery case registered at Cheyur police station. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated.
