MP to allow new prisoners only after they test negative

The decision was taken a day after 64 of the 82 prisoners in Bareli sub-jail in Raisen district tested positive. Three guards had also tested positive.

Like all the other jails, Bareli was also overcrowded. The infection was brought by new prisoners. Forty-one of the 64 who tested positive were shifted to Vidisha for treatment and the rest quarantined at Raisen jail.

Home and jail minister Narottam Mishra suspended Bareli sub-jail Superintendent Vinay Gadhwal with immediate effect, holding him responsible for the lapse.

More than 50 prisoners had tested positive in Indore alone with small jails also reporting cases. As many as 9,000 convicts and undertrials had been released on parole and interim bail in the wake of the pandemic considering the Supreme Court guidelines to reduce overcrowding in jails.

Meanwhile, the total number of positive cases in the state reached 24,095, including 785 new cases in the last 24 hours.