Umar Khalid tests +ve in jail; directives sent to isolate new inmates
New Delhi: Former JNU student leader and prominent anti-CAA activist Umar Khalid, jailed in connection with the north-east Delhi riots last year, has now tested positive for Covid-19 and has been put in isolation inside the Tihar Jail complex, officials here said, amid a mounting count inside Delhi's jails triggered by the fourth wave of the pandemic here.
Since March this year till April 23, over 241 prison inmates have tested positive for the virus and at least 60 staffers have tested positive, with all 14 recoveries being that of the inmates so far.
But as cases continue to rise once again inside jails, the Director-General of Prisons on Sunday ordered that separate facilities be readied for freshly arrested accused coming into the prisons, especially in light of the fact that officials are still clueless as to how the infection exploded inside jails once again.
"Due to spread of the second wave of Coronavirus epidemic in Delhi, it has been decided by the competent authority that the freshly arrested inmates shall be admitted in Delhi prisons from April 26 under following guidelines," the order read.
According to the order, all-male inmates above the age of 21 years will be admitted to CJ-15, Mandoli. "All adolescent male inmates between the age of 18 to 21 years will be admitted in CJ-5, Tihar and all-female inmates will be admitted in CJ-16, Mandoli," the order read.
The following order was sent to senior prison officials, Special CPs, Joint CPs, PA to Commissioner of Police (Delhi). Sandeep Goel, Director-General (Prisons) said they want to keep fresh arrested inmates in different cells as far as possible.
"All fresh inmates are kept separately from existing inmates. There is no exception to it," he said. According to prison officials, roughly 2000-2500 fresh arrested inmates were lodged in prisons in the second wave of COVID 19 (April).
Meanwhile, the Prisons Department has now started to encourage all inmates to get vaccinated by informing them of their eligibility for the Covid-19 shot.
"We are informing the inmates that now all of them will be eligible for the vaccination. We are encouraging them to get vaccinated. The process is already inside the jails for prisoners above 45 years of age," Goel said.
Till April 17, as many as 363 inmates have been vaccinated and all of them are safe. According to statistics shared by the jail administration, 262 inmates were vaccinated at the Tihar complex whereas Rohini-68 inmates and Mandoli-33 inmates have been given vaccine doses.
