Cuttack: As many as 16, 789 prisoners have been released from various jails in state in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
The prisoners including under trials and convicts have been released temporarily as per the recommendation of a high-power committee, constituted as per the Supreme Court direction.
It is worth mentioning here that inmates of at least eight jails out of the total 85 in Odisha have been tested positive for the deadly virus.
As per the available data, a total of 16,639 under trial prisoners (UTPs) and 150 convicts have been released from various jails in state within March 20 and July 28.
This apart, at least 1,202 prisoners have been shifted from some overcrowded jails to other prisons during that time period to check the spread of novel coronavirus.
The highest number of prisoners (5,231) has been released from the Berhampur Circle Jail in the wake of the pandemic. Altogether 3,716 prisoners have been temporarily released from Sambalpur Circle Jail, said the data.
The data further claimed that a total of 3,465 prisoners have been allowed to go home from Cuttack Circle Jail while the number was 2, 718 in case of Baripada Circle Jail and 1,644 from Koraput Circle Jail.
Notably, Orissa High Court justice Sanju Panda who is also the executive chairperson of Odisha State Legal Services Authority has been heading the high-power committee constituted as per the Apex Court direction. State Home department principal secretary, Director General of prisons and the member secretary of State Legal Services Authority are the other members of the panel.
As per the recommendation of the high-power committee, a special committee has been formed for each district in state for temporary release of the prisoners, sources said.
The district judges, district collectors, superintendents of police, superintendents of the district jails and the secretaries of the district legal services authorities have been included in the special committees.
It is learnt that the authorities of various jails have introduced several precautionary measures to check the spread of Covid-19. The system of e-Mulaqat has been launched for the meeting of prisoners with their family members. Lawyers have been asked to talk to their clients through videoconferencing.