Police traced him to his friend's house at Wellington some 15 km from the tourist hotspot of Ooty Wednesday morning. Police said Jayanandan, convicted in seven murder cases, contacted his wife on his mobile phone and that helped them to trace him.
Riyaz, his accomplice in the jailbreak who is still at large, left him in Coimbatore, Jayanandan told the police. Police do not rule out chances of him leaving the country as he has many contacts outside the state and command on more languages.
The duo escaped after breaking open the iron grills of their cell and jumping the high walls of the prison as other inmates and wardens were busy watching world cup soccer match and all the 22 surveillance cameras that were recently installed hit some "technical snags".
Police said he had written to his wife four months ago asking her to prepare for his "possible release" and settle down in Tamil Nadu. He also started shedding weight to make the escape through the narrow window smooth.
K.P. Philip, the district superintendent of police, said Jayanandan was traced following a tip-off that he had a friend in Wellington where his family members used to stay after his imprisonment.
Taking a serious note of the escape, which exposed security lapses in the prison, the government placed under suspension a deputy jailor and four prison wardens and ordered a departmental inquiry. Police conducted extensive raids on the jail cells Wednesday confiscating two truckloads of smuggled goods including weapons, drugs, mobile phones and fitness equipment.
The duo was lodged in the 10th block of the jail along with the under-trials in several terror attack cases. Activists of ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), convicted in series of political murders in Kannur, are also lodged here and, according to former jails chief M.G.A. Raman, jail officials dread to enter the area. Interestingly, he was shifted to Kannur from Thrissur after he made a similar attempt by removing the closet and dig a tunnel to escape.
Jayanandan, hailing from Mala in Thrissur district, had been awarded capital punishment by the trial court for brutal murders, which was later reduced to life imprisonment by the high court. He committed all murders during the burglary attempts in which many people hurt seriously.
