Several inmates, released on emergency parole or interim bail from Delhi prisons to decongest jails amid the COVID-19 outbreak, have been arrested again for being allegedly involved in various criminal cases, said a Delhi police officer on Sunday.
The Supreme Court had on Friday ordered that prisoners, who were released by the high powered committees (HPCs) of States during the second wave of COVID-19 following its May 7 directions, will not be asked to surrender until further orders.
Keeping a watch
The officer said that each police district has a separate jail-bail cell to keep track on criminals on bail. All police stations have been instructed to keep a watch on them. The inmates were lodged in the jails in West, South, Dwarka and Outer Delhi districts.
The North district police on July 5 this year, arrested a man released on bail after being allegedly involved in a murder case. Out on bail, he tried to put pressure on the witnesses using several methods but when he failed to win them over, he decided to take the other alternative by implicating them in a false case of attempt to murder. But his plan was exposed and he was arrested.
In South district, one Amarjeet, a vagabond, was arrested in a theft and house trespass case registered at Kotla Mubarakpur police station. The crime took place on June 24, a senior police officer said.
Amarjeet was earlier sent to jail in a case of violation of the Excise Act, he said.
Dwarka district police also reported arrests of two other inmates out on bail.
According to the police, Naresh Kumar, a resident of Ujwa in Delhi, was arrested in an Arms Act case registered at Jaffarpur Kalan police station.
The other person identified as Deepak Kumar, a resident of Jai Vihar in Baprola, was arrested for his involvement in a criminal case.
In Outer district, a person was arrested in a robbery case. However, the police said they protested against the bail of an inmate who was involved in several criminal cases, following which his bail plea got rejected.
Four people were arrested in the West district. Among them, two were arrested in theft cases, one in robbery and one for violation of the Excise Act, the police said.
In South East district, three such criminals, out on bail, were arrested for allegedly being involved in robbery and snatching cases.
Different picture
According to the police, at least 90 inmates of North West district and 95 of North East district jails were released. However, no one has been arrested again so far.
In Shahdara district, 104 undertrial prisoners were released from jail, but none of them have been found involved in any other criminal case so far, they said.
A senior Delhi Prisons official said over 3,800 inmates were released from three jails. “This year, the process of releasing inmates started from the second week of May. Around 3,000 undertrial prisoners and over 800 convicts were released from the prisons,” the official said.
These include inmates who were released last year and then surrendered with no adverse report, and also new prisoners who were eligible for such interim bail or emergency parole in view of the pandemic, under the criteria laid down by a high powered committee in its meetings on May 4 and May 11.
Last year, over 5,500 undertrial prisoners and 1,184 convicts were released on interim bail and emergency parole from the three Delhi jails — Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli — during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. But over 2,400 undertrials and 90 convicts have not reported back to the jail. The district police have been informed about them.
Court direction
The Supreme Court has also directed the State governments and their high powered committees to file the norms or the guidelines being adopted by them in implementing the order on release of prisoners for decongesting jails during the second wave of the contagion.
