The state government has announced that it is going to temporarily release over 17,000 inmates which is half the pre-lockdown population of prisons in Maharashtra.

A 24-year-old undertrial in a case of attempt to murder, who came out of Yerawada Prison in Pune as part of the ongoing decongestion of jails due to COVID-19, was hacked to death within an hour after his release as a fallout of past enmity. This is the second such murder of an inmate upon emergency release in the city.

Nitin Shivaji Kasabe (24), who was facing a trial in case of an attempt to murder, came out from Yerawada Central Prison at 9.30 pm on Wednesday on temporary bail and was attacked with sharp weapons by a group of at least eight persons, in Yerawada area around 10.30 pm.

Senior inspector Yunus Shaikh of Yerawada police station said, “About an hour after his release, he was attacked by a group of people. The attack proved fatal. We believe the murder was a fallout of past rivalry. Within hours after the murder, eight persons have been detained by our teams. Probe in on.”

Officials said that Kasabe was earlier granted bail in the case but was put in custody again for not complying with the court order to attend the trial. He had been in prison for over three months, before being released on Wednesday night.

The state government has announced that it is going to temporarily release over 17,000 inmates which is half the pre-lockdown population of prisons in Maharashtra, to avert the possibility of spread of infections inside. Prisoners are being released either on temporary bail in case of undertrials and on emergency parole in case of convicts. Till Wednesday night, over 8,700 inmates have been released from prisons across Maharashtra.

Earlier, Munna Ishwar Chavan (23), a native of Gevrai in Beed district, was released on April 15 on emergency bail from the Yerawada jail. He was found murdered on the footpath a few days later. Police had arrested one person in connection with the case.