The escape of 17 undertrial prisoners from the Thekkampatti sub-jail in Theni district has triggered a political attack on the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, with DMK president M K Stalin, AIADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswami, DMK deputy general secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin and AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran questioning the State’s prison security and law-and-order machinery.