Thiruvananthapuram,   In what's believed to be a serious security lapse, a murder convict jailed at the high profile Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail at Poojapura in the heart of the capital city, escaped on Tuesday morning.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab Jaffar Hussain, a resident of Tuticorin who has been jailed for a murder that took place here in 2005.

He was convicted in 2017 and since then he has been housed here.

What's serious is that on account of the Covid pandemic, while many inmates have been given parole, even with lower number of inmates and a good number of jail staff, Hussain managed to escape from the jail.

After he was found missing, the police managed to get some tips that he escaped on an auto rickshaw and he reached the main Central bus stand.

Despite the serious lapse in security, the police are confident that they will be able to nab the escapee soon.