202 Delhi prisoners on emergency Covid-19 parole fail to surrender
NEW DELHI: Of the 1,184 prisoners who were released last year on “emergency parole” to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Delhi jails, at least 202 prisoners have not surrendered even after the parole period has ended, said prison officers aware of the development. The absconding prisoners have now been declared “fugitives” and Delhi Police teams across the city are looking for them.
In the past two weeks, police have arrested five such persons for street crimes such as robbery, attempted murder, snatching and carrying illegal arms. A senior Delhi Police officer, who did not wish to be named, said several prisoners who were out on parole had returned to crime.
As one of the first measures to decongest jails and ensure social distancing at the start of the pandemic, these 1,000-odd prisoners were released on “emergency parole” in April last year. The three jails of Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini collectively hold over 18,000 prisoners, well above their sanctioned strength and a high-powered committee had stressed upon the need to decongest prison complexes.
With Covid cases abating in
Delhi, the out-on-parole prisoners were told to start surrendering from February 6, in small batches of 10 or 20. The surrender process ended on March 6 and the prison department checked the records to find at least 202 prisoners missing.
On March 3, absconding prisoner Vinod Yadav --- he has more than 31 cases of theft, robbery, and snatching against him -- who was out on parole since October 14, was arrested in a robbery case. Police said while on parole, Yadav had committed at least nine instances of snatching. The same afternoon, another prisoner, Kanwaljeet Singh, was arrested with illegal weapons. Three days before that, fugitive Javed (identified by a single name in police records) was arrested for snatching.
Javed, who has 10 cases against him, was released on parole in April 2020 but had failed to surrender last month.
A mid-level prison officer, said, “In most cases, we found that their cellphones were switched off or the number no longer active.” Director-general, prisons, Sandeep Goel said, “There are around 200 such prisoners who did not surrender. We have informed police stations, but will also send a consolidated list to Delhi Police headquarters.