Indore: Sample this... you leave your home in these times of crises to arrange for provision for your family and the police stop you suspecting you to be a Covidiot. Not satisfied with your reasoning, the cops detain you in a temporary jail for hours and mind you, your phone will be seized by the men in khaki. In these trying times, you can't even pass on information to your family. Imagine the plight?
Several such cases are being reported from the Temporary Jail set up at Snehlataganj for those who are habitual offenders and in the process, some genuine persons also suffer.
On Friday, Free Press visited the jail and tried to talk to people who were "prisoned" there. One out of 10 on an average was taken to prison without any valid reason… the genuine persons are helpless… in front of the might of the police and the administration.
Abhay Morya, is one such sufferer who was "prisoned" for three hours. He said he was out to buy ration for his family comprising his wife and one-and-a-half year old daughter around 11:30am. When he found all shops closed in his area, he moved towards Khajrana Square where the police stopped him. He had even showed his Whatsapp message of the ration list to police but the cops thought he was trying to hoodwink them. He was made to park his bike at the spot and was sent to the temporary jail along with others.
He said in all this hullabaloo, he forgot to inform his family and at the jail, the police seized his phone and switched it off. Finally, after hours when he was released, a fatigued Morya called up a friend to get a drop to his home. By then, his family was exasperated.
Vicky Agrawal who came to pick his friend said Morya was picked at 9am during the relaxation period for public.
JAIL or EPICENTRE OF COVID-19 SPREAD
In order to save people from Covid wrath and to teach "offenders" a lesson, when 300 "inmates" are placed in the temporary jail, there is hardly any "room" for social distancing thanks to the cramped conditions. The "offenders" are forced to sit close to each other.
A person who was also sent to jail said on condition of anonymity that there were many inside the jail and they were coughing and sneezing. Some didn't even wear masks and those who did and the masks in wrong positions. He said the temporary jail can become a super spreader for spread of covid-19 because no Covid tests are done before sending them to jail.
The jail responsibility rests with SP (Jail) Rakesh Bhangera, who said police were simply executing the instructions of the given by the administration.
However, the concerned official from the administration Pawan Jain was "not available". He also didn't take calls.
OVER ZEALOUS
- 3-hour imprisonment
- PhoneS seized
- Inmates have to take off shoes
- Punishment meted out to those who give excuses
- NO SOCIAL DISTANCING
- NO Covid checking
- People are brought in a bus but when released, they have to manage on their own to go back home.
HOW YOU land up in TEMPORARY JAIL?
People were brought in from different areas of the city to a temporary jail under section 151 (precautionary arrests made to prevent cognizable offenses) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) said superintendent of the Central Jail, Rakesh Kumar Bhangera. The violators are picked up from public places without any reason, he added.
At least 15 personnel have been deployed in the temporary jail and CCTV cameras are also installed to keep watch on inmates.
