‘Inmates can’t be assigned duties outside jail premises’

Deepak Pandey, inspector general (IG) of police (prisons) has restrained jail authorities from putting inmates on cleaning duty outside the premises, after an inmate

Deepak Pandey, inspector general (IG) of police (prisons) has restrained jail authorities from putting inmates on cleaning duty outside the premises, after an inmate fled from Taloja Central Jail last month. The escapee, along with 17 other inmates, had been assigned cleaning duty in the police quarters and the open ground adjoining the jail premises. Pandey visited Taloja jail last week and ordered an inquiry into the incident. He instructed the jail authorities to file a report regarding the same and restrained them from assigning cleaning duties to inmates.

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The escaped inmate, Rajesh Jadhav, 28, was serving a one-year sentence, which would have ended in December. “Jadhav along with 17 other inmates were assigned the job of cleaning and grass cutting. Rajendra Patil, a police constable who was monitoring the inmates, claimed that at 10am, he sent the men to clean the area around the police quarters. However, Jadhav told his fellow inmates that he was going to dispose of the garbage in a civic bin and fled,” said a police officer.

Sources from the jail allege that Jadhav was assigned the job of cleaning the house of a senior jailer. “Jadhav stole some ornaments and fled wearing the jailer’s uniform, by which he was able to slip past the officers and other inmates. The incident of theft is not reported at Kharghar police station as it would have shamed the jail authorities,” said the source at Taloja jail.

A case was registered against Jadhav under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and search operations have started.