COVID-19: 11,000 Maha jail inmates released temporarily so far

Nagpur, Jul 4 () Around 11,000 inmates have been released temporarily from Maharashtra jails so far to reduce crowding in view of coronavirus outbreak, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters after a visit to Nagpur Central Jail where 41 inmates and 56 staff tested positive for the infection in the last four days.

"There are 37,000 inmates in Maharashtra's jails. Of these, 11,000, including those facing up to seven years imprisonment, have been released on parole to maintain social distancing norms in prisons. So far, 414 prisoners have tested positive for novel coronavirus in the state, and 281 of them have been released on parole," he said.

"A total of 162 prison staff have tested positive so far. Nine jails have been placed under lockdown to control the virus spread," he added. CLS BNM BNM