Taloja Jail has a capacity of 2,124 and is currently housing 2,700 inmates, which includes big names like Abu Salem, Ashwin Naik, Kumar Pillai and DK Rao
This picture has been used for representational purposes
Learning a lesson from the Arthur Road COVID-19 incident, Taloja Jail authorities have decided to send new inmates into quarantine centres before admitting them to jails.
Taloja Jail has a capacity of 2,124 and is currently housing 2,700 inmates, which includes big names like Abu Salem, Ashwin Naik, Kumar Pillai and DK Rao.
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The jail authorities have created a quarantine centre in a school at Kharghar which presently has 20 and can house around 150 inmates.
"After the Supreme Court ordered the release of all the inmates serving sentences below seven years, we released around 1,100 inmates," Kaustubh Kurlekar, superintendent of Taloja Central Jail said.
In addition to inmates, the jail has a staff of 300 officers and cops out of whom 150 live in the nearby colony. "Of the remaining 150, we have made accommodation for 30 more staffers and asked others, who travel daily, to not attend duty," Kurlekar added.
Jail authorities have also stopped visits of kin and producing inmates in the court. "We produce inmate before a judge via video conferencing. We have also restricted the movement of inmates and are closely monitoring the health of each one," a jail official said.
"If we need to transfer any inmate from the quarantine centre to the jail, all necessary tests will be conducted first," another jail official added.
Isolated in Arthur Road
After finding over 100 COVID-19 patients in Arthur Road Jail, 300 more inmates will be tested. All have been quarantined inside the jail and their health is being monitored. Till now 77 inmates and 26 jail staff have tested positive. "On Saturday a doctor posted at Byculla jail tested positive for COVID-19 but he was not on duty for the last few days," Deepak Pande, IG Prisons, said.
20
No. of inmates at the quarantine centre
(Inputs from Vishal Singh)
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