The Jail Department authorities were left with egg on their face after an accused managed to flee the detention centre at Karukutty near Angamaly for the second consecutive time in as many nights.
Suresh aka Dracula Suresh, 30, of Vadayambady, nicknamed for his ability to pull off thefts and robberies under the cover of night, was the one to flee the detention centre in the early hours of Friday. Another accused, Mishal, 22, of Thalasserry also managed to escape along with him.
All arrested persons are kept at the detention centre till their COVID-19 test results are out, and only those testing negative are moved into jails.
Suresh was nabbed from a house at Vengola near Perumbavoor and brought to the detention centre on Thursday after he had escaped when he was first brought to the centre the previous night. He had then taken to his heels the moment he was freed from a handcuff that was fastened to his wrist along with that of another accused.
He, along with Mishal, was locked up in a room on the second floor of the detention centre on Thursday night. However, they somehow managed to break the lock and climb down through an adjacent tree bent over the second floor, sometime between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday.
It is learnt that Suresh had been to the detention centre at least on four occasions in connection with different cases, and that familiarisation probably helped him flee twice.
Suresh was arrested last week on the charge of looting a shop at Perumbavoor. He has over 20 cases against him in Kochi city and Alappuzha, Idukki and Thrissur districts.
According to the police, he was habitually violent and attacked the police whenever he was arrested. He had allegedly attempted to escape police custody even in the past and even resorted to self-harm as a ploy.
Mishal was arrested in connection with a motorcycle theft case by the Elamakkara police. He is also an accused in a sexual abuse case in Thalassery, the police said.
District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik on Friday visited the police detention centre in the wake of two successive incidents of security breaches. Around 50 persons are put up in the two-storey facility. After examining security arrangements, he issued instructions for plugging potential security lapses.