The state’s prisons department, meanwhile, moved to arm watchtower personnel with self-loading rifles and authorised them to open fire when attacked or to prevent a jailbreak.

The latest arrests, of Ponmuthu Selvam and Regin, came as search teams continued combing the hills and forest areas around Theni and along the Kerala border.

The escape began late on Monday, when one prisoner appeared to suffer an epileptic fit inside a cell. When a guard entered to respond to the apparent medical emergency, the inmates allegedly attacked him. The guard suffered a head injury, and 17 prisoners fled through the main entrance.

The armed deployment marks the most visible response to a jailbreak that exposed weaknesses in how prisoners were housed, monitored and guarded.

Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services, Sandeep Rai Rathore, said personnel manning watchtowers were authorised to open fire when under attack or when a jailbreak occurred.…