Kannur (Kerala), June 16 (IANS) One of the two convicts who escaped from the high-security jail here earlier this week was arrested from Ooty in Tamil Nadu Wednesday, police said.

Jayanandan, serving a life term for murder, was arrested early Wednesday from a friend’s house.

‘We caught him from a house near Ooty today early morning and we are taking him back to Kannur where more details would be elicited from him on how he and another prisoner managed the jail break,’ a police inspector told reporters enroute to Kannur from Ooty.

Jayanandan and Riaz, who had committed 35 burglaries, removed two bars of their cell and put them back after getting out. They escaped after scaling the high prison wall Monday.

Police tracked down Jayanandan by tracing his wife’s mobile phone as he was in touch with her.

According to police, the two could have escaped from their cell in the prison’s Block 10 between 2.30 a.m. and 3.30 a.m. as the inmates were watching a football match on TV past midnight.

They used a pipe from the water tank for jumping over the 20-feet-high jail wall.

Police have taken possession of the pipe.

Director General of Police (prisons) Alexander Jacob Wednesday conducted surprise raids in the jail to see if mobile phones were being used by the prisoners.