Pune: Five inmates escape from temporary prison at Yerawada

Inspector Yunus Shaikh of Yerawada police station said, “The five inmates escaped by bending the grills of the window of their room in the early hours. They were held in cases from Daund and Lonikand police stations in Pune rural jurisdiction and one more from Wakad police station in Pimpri Chinchwad jurisdiction. A search has been launched for them.”

The campus, which is of a government-run girl’s hostel, currently houses close to 600 inmates. The temporary prison is admitting inmates — both undertrials and convicts — slated to be lodged in the high security Yerawada Central Prison in Pune which is under lockdown.

On May 15, the Maharashtra Home Department had issued a notification giving powers to District Collectors in the state to take provisional possession of government or privately-owned buildings and designate them as temporary prisons for isolating sections of prisoners to avert the spread of the virus. It also directed to admit new inmates — either convicts or undertrials. Till now, 36 temporary prisons have been designated in 27 districts in the state, housing over 2,800 inmates.

On the night of July 12, a 21-year-old inmate of the temporary prison, who was in judicial custody in a case of robbery registered in Pune rural jurisdiction, escaped. He was, however, caught 24 hours later.

In a similar manner, two inmates had escaped from the same premises around a month ago. They were arrested later.

Prison department officials maintained there is adequate deployment of security on the premises of the building and said a probe will be conducted into the incident.