Prisoners who were granted emergency parole fail to surrender. Report shows that at least 80 prisoners who were granted parole last year at the beginning of the pandemic to decongest prisons, are now on the run.
“The process of surrendering began on February 6. The prisoners had to surrender at Mandoli jail and quarantine there before their transfer to their respective jails. Officials at Mandoli have reported that there at 20-30 prisoners from each sub-jail, who have not yet surrendered. We had chosen Mandoli jail as the surrender point so that even if a prisoner was Covid-19 positive, the infection could be detected early before they are allowed to mingle with other prisoners,” said a jail officer.
Prison officials will write to the Delhi Police with a list of names of all prisoners who had failed to come back after the end of bail period. Several jail officers said that among the 80, there are many murder convicts who were supposed to surrender this month.
Nearly 1,000 prisoners were released on emergency parole as one of the first measures to decongest jails and ensure social distancing at the start of the pandemic. The three jails in Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini collectively have around 18,000 prisoners. Delhi government and prison department had stressed upon the need to decongest the prison complex. And taking the pandemic into consideration, this was the first time that so many prisoners were released on parole.
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