Kendrapara: The Jailer of the Kendrapara sub-jail here has appealed to the DGP and a local court to shift over 50 undertrial prisoners from the jail to Chowdwar Circle Jail in Cuttack district due to acute space shortage, a report said.
The jailer, Saroj Kumar Biswal, sent a letter through special messenger to the DGP as well as to the Chowdwar Jail authorities, the Kendrapara court authorities and the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Rajnagar.
In his letter, the jailer mentioned the acute space crunch in the jail as the reason behind his request. He apprehends that the number of undertrial prisoners might increase in coming days.
Biswal said the jail is facing acute space crunch for housing undertrial prisoners as it can house only 152 male prisoners in eight wards and 38 women prisoners in two wards. Things have come to such a pass that some of the prisoners have been housed in the medical ward of the sub-jail.
This has happened as undertrial prisoners have failed to move court for bail as courts have been paralysed due to the lawyers strike over the police assaulting an advocate.
The number of undertrial prisoners in the jail is increasing every day. As a result, the sub-jail which actually had the capacity to house 190 prisoners is now housing 411 prisoners.
Moreover, it has become difficult to manage the sub-jail as vacancies have not been filled up, he said. The post of an assistant jailer, a medical officer and a chief warder is lying vacant, while two warders are on leave to attend a training programme.
Biswal said that there were 220 men and 12 women prisoners in the sub-jail last August, but the numbers have now reached 411. There are 233 undertrial prisoners, 159 prisoners accused in criminal cases and eight convicted prisoners in the sub-jail, he added.
PNN