Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah al-Khalifa formed a committee to investigate the jailbreak from the Jau prison, in southeastern Bahrain, and to assess shortfalls in security measures, the ministry said.
He ordered the demotion of the official to the general security department, and appointed another officer as a caretaker under the ministry's supervision.
The interior ministry did not disclose details about the prison escapees, Al Jazeera reported.
Also a Bahraini court sentenced 12 citizens to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of what it called as supporting terrorist activities.
Defence lawyer Sayed Hashim Saleh said the court had convicted them the previous day, and sentenced two others to 15 years in prison. Six of the 12 sentenced to life were convicted in absentia.
Bahrain has faced more than three years of unrest following an uprising dominated by the Shiite majority calling for greater rights from the country's Sunni rulers.