Bhubaneswar: 96 inmates of Jharpada special jail test positive

BHUBANESWAR: In what may set the alarm bells ringing for the state prisons authorities, as many as 96 inmates of the special jail in Jharpada here have tested positive for Covid-19. The cases were from among the 195 swab samples collected in the last 24 hours, thereby registering an alarming test positivity rate of 49.23%. The development comes in the wake of the ongoing decongestion of jails following a Supreme Court directive. At least 775 prisoners have been released on bail and parole in the state between May 1 and 15.
The population of the state’s 87 jails has come down to 19,707 as on May 15 from 20,482 on May 1. However, the Jharpada special jail in Bhubaneswar continues to be overcrowded with 942 inmates against it’s capacity of 749. “We cannot do anything as the release of the inmates depends on the courts. Besides, most of the inmates here are notorious criminals, who have not been granted bail by the courts because of the heinous nature of their offences,” a jail official said.
Last week, the director general of police (prisons and correctional services) Santosh Upadhyay had reviewed the Covid situation in the jails and asked the superintendents to co-ordinate with the under-trial review committees to consider the release of inmates above 60 years of age and those with co-morbidities involved in cases that warrant below seven years’ punishment on interim bail or parole.
“We have advised the jail superintendents not to allow gathering of prisoners at common places like canteens and telephone booths inside the jails. They should be discouraged from consuming cold beverages as that make the virus more virulent,” Upadhyay said. E-mulaqat system will be encouraged to reduce the physical interaction between the prisoners and their family members during the pandemic.