At least 72 prisoners in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail have tested positive for coronavirus, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Thursday. These inmates will be quarantined separately, he said.
Earlier, the state government had isolated eight prisons in the state including the Arthur Road prison, and ordered that no new person will be allowed to enter and those inside, including the jail staff, will not be allowed to leave the prison premises during the lockdown.
But despite the precautions, 72 inmates of Arthur Road prison were found to have contracted the deadly virus after coming in contact with an infected cook, Deshmukh told reporters in Palghar, near Mumbai.
“These prisoners will be quarantined with the help of Mumbai’s civic body,” he said.
The home minister was addressing the media after visiting Gadchinchale village in the district where three people, including two monks, were killed in a mob-attack on suspicions of being thieves on April 16.
Anil Deshmukh also said that to prevent the spread of virus in jails, the state government has decided to release on parole around 5,000 prisoners who have been sentenced to less than seven years’ in jail.
