delhi

Updated: Mar 29, 2020 08:56 IST

Over 400 prisoners from Delhi’s Tihar jail complex were released on Saturday in a bid to “reduce overcrowding” in light of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, jail authorities said.

Of the 419 prisoners released, 356 were released on a 45-day interim bail, while 63 others were released on an eight-week emergency parole.

This is the first batch of prisoners to be released after the jail officials had said a few days earlier that they would be letting out nearly 3,000 inmates to ease congestion in the prison complex.

“The interim bail is for 45 days. The emergency parole is for eight weeks,” a senior jail official said. More prisoners would be released over the next few days, the official added.

Earlier, inmates were entitled to only four-week parole but the Delhi government amended the prison rules to decongest the prisons in light of Covid-19.

With over 18,000 inmates, the Tihar jail is the most overcrowded prison complex across Delhi. The jail complex has a capacity of housing only 10,000 prisoners,

Sandeep Goel, director general, Delhi Prisons, had earlier said the inmates would be released after officials observe their conduct inside the prison, and records from the time they were last out of prison. The released inmates do not include hardened and dangerous criminals. Those who were awarded less than seven years of a prison sentence( for non-heinous crimes) would be considered for this release, he had said.