Of over 6.6K inmates released due to pandemic, around 2.2K surrendered
New Delhi: Of the around 6,600 undertrials and convicts released on interim bail, emergency parole and criteria set by the Supreme Court-mandated High Powered Committee in light of the pandemic last year, only around 2,200 have surrendered back to prison so far following the high court's decision to direct the inmates to return to jail.
As the pandemic set in, Delhi prisons had started decongesting jails and removing high-risk inmates to avoid the spread of the virus. Around 5,500 undertrials from Delhi's 16 jails were granted interim bail, of which 3,337 inmates were released based on criteria of risks set by the High Powered Committee (HPC).
Data from the prisons department showed that around 1,200 of these undertrials had surrendered since March 6.
Apart from these inmates, 1,184 convicts were released on emergency parole and were supposed to surrender between February 7 and March 6. However, the data showed that 112 of these convicts are yet to surrender.
In light of a large number of inmates still not having surrendered, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava has now directed all district DCPs to ensure that these remaining criminals are returned to Tihar at the earliest, sources in the know told Millennium Post.
They added that there was a recent crime review meeting between the top brass of city police, in which the issue of inmates having to surrender was brought up.
"Special CP (Crime) has sent a list to all district DCPs regarding criminals whose interim bails have been cancelled by the concerned Courts and they have to return to the Tihar jail before the due date," one senior official said.
But even as Tihar officials prepare for the fresh influx of inmates amid rising cases in the city, two people who surrendered recently were found positive for COVID-19 in their rapid antigen test and were sent to the nearest hospital under police guard.
Prisons officials have said that all inmates returning to jails are being screened and tested with RAT kits. "Same protocol is continuing. Masks, screening, quarantine of new inmates. Staff is now vaccinated. Also, vaccination of inmates has started," one Tihar official said.
According to official data, a total of 415 people have tested positive for the virus inside Delhi's jails, of which two succumbed to it and two are still active. Of total cases, 122 were of inmates, both COVID-19 deaths in jail were of inmates and of the 293 prisons staff who tested positive, all had recovered.
The prison authority has said they have taken several steps to curb COVID-19 inside prisons including repeated medical screening of inmates, isolation cells for those having ILI symptoms.
