In a shocking development, as many as 72 prisoners lodged at the Arthur Road Central Jail and seven of its staffers tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, after which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) quarantined them and 100 others, including some jail officials and staffers, at an isolation facility outside the prison.
While State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh himself confirmed that 72 prisoners lodged at the Arthur Road prison tested positive for Covid-19, sources at the jail said that seven prison employees had been diagnosed positive for coronavirus.
“To ensure against the spread of coronavirus on the Arthur Road prison premises, we had made special arrangements for inmates there. The jail authorities had banned the entry and exit of anyone from the jail. But, still some inmates contracted the pandemic as they were exposed to a Covid-19 affected staffer inside the prison,” Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh was speaking to mediapersons at Palghar after reviewing the situation at Gadhchinchale village where two Sadhus and one driver were lynched by a mob of villagers on the night of April 16.
Initial reports had said that a 45-year-old undertrial, who had been rushed to the JJ Hospital after he suffered paralytic attack, had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 2. When he was admitted to the hospital, he had been suffering from severe fever at that time. A swab sample taken from him tested positive for coronavirus.
Subsequently, the JJ Hospital doctors had taken swab samples of at least 150 prisoners; as many as 72 were diagnosed positive for the pandemic.
Subsequently, two prison guards, who were staying at a guest house near Byculla jail, tested positive.
Known initially as the Mumbai Central Prison, the 94-year-old prison has a capacity to house 800 inmates. It is basically meant for housing under-trials. Being the largest and oldest prison, it currently houses anywhere from 2600-2700 prisoners, mostly under-trials.
In the past, several of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused, including actor Sanjay Dutt, had been lodged at this prison. Even the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 attack’s lone arrested accused Mohammed Ajmal Mohammed Amir Iman alias Kasab was here before he was shifted to Pune’s Yerwada central Prison, where he was hanged on November 21, 2012.
In a related development, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that in an effort to reduce the number of prisons in various jails of the State, his Government had decided to release on parole nearly 5500 prisoners who had committed “not-so-serious” crimes and had been sentenced to less than seven years’ imprisonment.
“Earlier, to reduce the number of inmates in crowded prisons across the State, we had released 5,500 prisoners on bail. Now, the State Government has decided to release on parole another 5,500 prisoners who have not committed not-so-serious crimes and have been sentenced to less than seven years of imprisonment. With these moves, we will be able to reduce 11,000 inmates in jails across the State,” Deshmukh said, while talking to mediapersons at Palghar.