An official from the Yerwada police station said that the inmates escaped through the windows of their rooms at 4am and a search has been launched for them
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Five prisoners lodged in a government hostel that was made a temporary prison in Yerwada in Pune, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have escaped in the wee hours of Thursday. According to Indian Express, this is the third time that such an incident has occurred in the past one month.
According to the police and the Prison Department officials, out of the five inmates, four were arrested by the Pune rural police officials whereas one was nabbed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police. The details of the cases they were involved in have not been disclosed yet.
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Maharashtra: Five prisoners escaped from temporary jail of Yerawada Central Prison earlier today after breaking window bars of temporary jail. State prison dept had set up temporary jails to keep new inmates there to avoid spread of COVID-19 inside prisons. More details awaited.
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2020
An official from the Yerwada police station said that the inmates escaped through the windows of their rooms at 4 am and a search has been launched for them. "They were held in cases from Daund and Lonikand police stations in Pune rural jurisdiction and one more from Wakad police station in Pimpri Chinchwad jurisdiction,” the official was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the prison department maintained that the makeshift prison has an adequate number of security officials on duty and the incident will be investigated.
The government-run hostel for girls, that was made a temporary prison, currently houses 600 prisoners. The makeshift prison has been admitting both undertrial inmates and convicts that are slated to be lodged in the high-security Yerwada Central Jail, which is under lockdown.
The Maharashtra Home Department had issued an order on May 15 that gave powers to district collectors to take possession of buildings owned by the government or the private sector and designate them as temporary prisons.
The move was to isolate a section of prisoners in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 among them. The order also directed to admit both undertrial inmates and convicts into the temporary prison. The report states that 36 temporary prisons have been set up in 27 districts in the state so far, that houses 2,800 inmates.
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