Aurangabad, Aug 20:
In a surprising development, the Harsul Central Jail administration has lodged complaints with various police stations against 61 absconding prisoners, who went on parole but did not return to jail in the last two years.
The capacity of Central Jail is to accommodate 1,214 prisoners. The prisoners undergoing imprisonment in various cases are housed here. The punishment is awarded by the different courts. Presently, the jail has prisoners who are undergoing imprisonment for serious crimes like murder, rape, dacoity, bomb blast, riots etc. The prisoners involved in robbery and house-breaking thefts are also cooling heels in the jail. They hail from different parts of Maharashtra and other states. Many undertrials are also imprisoned here.
It may be noted that the prisoners are granted leave to meet their relatives for a fixed period either on furlough or parole. Furlough is granted to prisoners undergoing long term imprisonment, while parole is granted to prisoners undergoing short term imprisonment. However, some prisoners citing various reasons extend their leave to avoid returning to the jail. It is mandatory to return after they leave, but the 61 prisoners did not return. The jail administration tried to search them with the help of local police but was in vain. Later on, the offences were filed in different police stations under Section 224 of IPC against the absconders.
Last year, many prisoners were released on parole to decongest the jail in the wake of Covid-19. They have not been ordered to return to jail. As a result, they are still out of the jail.
The jail superintendent Jayant Naik said, " We searched for the prisoners who went on parole before 2019 after they failed to return after the end of their leave period. We could not find them. Meanwhile, we have lodged cases against all these absconding prisoners. We are corresponding with the concerned superintendent of police (SP) to search these prisoners. So far, not a single prisoner has been either nor any of them returned to jail on his own."