Mumbai Police launch operation to nab prisoners released during Covid-19 outbreak, 18 held

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Mumbai Police on Thursday said that it nabbed at least 18 people who had been convicted by the courts and were released on parole during the Covid 19 outbreak.

Maharashtra and Mumbai were among the most affected places during the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The police said, during the Covid outbreak, several convicts were allowed parole and were were released from different prisons of Maharashtra. These convicts were to return back to jails upon end of their paroles but many of them failed to return back.

"The Mumbai Police recently launched a special operation to track and nab the convicts who have jumped parole and failed to return back to prisons," an official said.

The police said, as part of the special operation the officials of the Mumbai Police were successful in tracing and nabbing 18 convicts who were released on parole during Covid-19 outbreak and had failed to return back. The police will continue the special operation further.

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Sources said, during the coronavirus outbreak the government had come up with a scheme for the prisoners who were allowed to special parole to prisoners including undertrials and those convicted under cases with less then seven years of imprisonment. However the condition of the parole also included that the convict availing the parole would return back to their respective prisons after the end of their parole. Several prisoners who had taken parole during Covid-19 had returned back whereas many had failed to return.

They further said that the motive behind the decision of the government was to decongest the jails in the state to avoid spread of Covid inside jails.

Sources added, the Maharashtra home department had in May last year issued an order asking inmates on temporary parole or interim bail to return back to their respective jails.

They said that, the government had also directed the jail authorities to register cases against those who failed to return back and every convict granted parole during the pandemic was also asked to mark their presence at the local police station under their are of residences.

Those who neither attended the local police station nor returned to jail were booked under IPC section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension), sources said.