As many as 40 inmates and 14 others tested positive for the coronavirus at Birsa Munda Central Prison on Tuesday, sending authorities into a tizzy with officials going into a huddle to revise standard operating procedures to prevent an outbreak in other jails of the state.
Jail IG Birendra Bhushan said in all, 54 people tested positive. Of these, 14 were staff of the jail that can hold as many as 2,000 inmates
“The situation is turning serious for us now (jails) and we are working out ways to set fresh SOPs in place on priority to prevent further spread of the virus,” Bhushan told The Telegraph Online, adding that the new SOPs would be in place by Wednesday.
Among the 40 inmates who tested positive, two are former ministers and legislators serving jail terms for murder and corruption. While the jail authorities declined to reveal names citing Covid-19 protocol, sources claimed that former MLAs Raja Peter (Tamar) and Anos Ekka were among those who had tested positive.
Besides Ranchi, Jharkhand has four other central jails in Palamau, Hazaribagh, Dumka and East Singbhum. Additionally, there are over two dozen divisional and sub-divisional jails.
On the status in each, the IG said that data was yet to arrive, but admitted cases were surfacing. Jail administration sources claimed over 100 prisoners may have tested positive for Covid-19 across the state in the last couple of weeks even as random sampling is still underway.
Bhushan said they had initially planned to set up a camp jail at the Mega Sports Complex in Hotwar, Ranchi, to house inmates suspected to have acquired the infection and newly arrested individuals before transferring them elsewhere. But that plan did not work out because of certain administrative issues.
“As a result, we prepared a camp jail within the Birsa prison campus. But I think we need to pursue our earlier plan of setting up a transit jail (quarantine jail) at the sports complex,” he added.
Bhushan said they had also come across instances when several jail staffers were going out and resuming duty soon after returning. “We are working out measures to temporarily stop this. Elaborate SOPs will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday),” he said.
