Escape of remand prisoner: Search extended to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu

The police have intensified search in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for Vineesh Vinod, accused in the Drishya murder case, who recently escaped from the Kuthiravattom Government Mental Health Centre in Kozhikode district of Kerala.

Two special squads comprising officers appointed by the District Police Chief and the Medical College Assistant Commissioner are now part of the team searching for the escapee in the neighbouring States.

Police sources said the support of local police in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would also be sought to track him at the earliest. The statements of some of those who were earlier close to the escapee had already been recorded to make headway in the probe, they said.

Vineesh, a native of Manjeri in Malappuram district, was in the Kannur Central Jail before he was shifted to the Kuthiravattom Government Mental Health Centre after he exhibited symptoms of mental illness. A lookout notice was also issued in search of Vineesh, who escaped from the hospital on December 29, 2025.

This was the second time that the murder accused escaped from the treatment centre after drilling a hole on the wall. The first incident was in 2022 when he was traced to Darmasthala in Karnataka. Since June 2021, he had been in jail for the murder of Perinthalmanna native and LLB student Drishya after attacking her father and setting ablaze his shop.

Meanwhile, some of the human rights activists held the police accountable for the flaws in surveillance which led to the escape of the remand prisoner for the second time. They alleged that the police mechanism failed to track the accused even six days after the incident.