Nagpur: A startling fact that has been brought to light by the Prison Department, in Nagpur city, is that 50 convicted prisoners who were let out on parole are still at large.
While speaking exclusively with Nagpur Today, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Yogesh Desai while accepting this fact said that more than 50 prisoners who were let out on parole in the last few months are still to return though their parole period is over.
When a prisoner is let out on a fixed term parole, the maximum possible time being 15 days, he is still required To report to a designated police station regularly. The ‘missing’ prisoners, many of whom are notorious And cunning, have failed to do so. Seventeen of them are from Nagpur city. There are 6 from Nagpur rural, 7 From Wardha district, 5 from Gadchiroli apart from some prisoners of Yavatmal, Amraoti, Bhandara and Andhra Pradesh. If they do not report once a week to the police station action is supposed to be taken promptly To bring them back but police have been negligent on this count.
He claimed that they have handed over the list of such absconding prisoners to the local police stations. He also said that an additional case under Section 224 of Indian Penal Code is registered against the accused. The police personnel of Detective Branch of every police station are supposed to look for these prisoners while on patrol duty and bring them back.
But Nagpur Today’s investigation has revealed that many accused have not been brought back as yet. Prison officials inform the concerned police station immediately when convicts do not return. They also follow up with the local police by sending letters and holding meetings, said Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Yogesh Desai. To tighten the loose ends, the home department is working on changing the parole rules, Desai said.
Desai opined that there would be a second review of the parole and furlough rules. The Maharashtra Prison Manual was revised last year after a gap of 36 years. The new manual took the lead in making Maharashtra the first state to deny parole to rape convicts. Prior to this, parole was denied only to those serving term for dacoity and robbery. The new manual has also dealt in detail with the norms of parole vis-a-vis the duration and formalities involved. It was notified in October 2015. The new rule has brought down the period of parole from 90 days to 45 days. Desai went on to claim that those serving their time for murder often avail the facility of Parole. On emergencies the prisoner can avail a parole of 7 days while in normal parole he or she can avail a parole of 15 days. This way, a prisoner can go out on parole thrice. However some of them do jump parole.
Implanting GPS on convicts to prevent jumping parole
With some convicts missing after jumping parole, the Maharashtra Prisons Department is contemplating the possibility of micro-chipping convicts granted parole in a move to curtail similar incidents. This means a tiny Global Positioning System-enabled device will be implanted under the convicts’ skin to monitor their movement. The plan is in a nascent stage and a lot of deliberations are being held to study the feasibility. Most jails in western countries follow this system informed a senior official from the Prisons Department to Nagpur Today.
If a convict manages to get rid of the chip, remove it and throw it away before fleeing, we would still be able to get some leads on his/her last movement, which helpful in tracking him or her down,” the official explained.
– By Ravikant Kamble
