Amnesty plan sees 24 inmates from Pune’s Yerawda jail walk free

The proposal to release prisoners was accepted by the state government on October 1, while the actual release will take place on October 5 on account of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The release is a goodwill gesture on the occasion of 150th Gandhi Jayanti observed on Tuesday.

Yerwada central jail will release 24 inmates convicted in petty crimes as a part of the amnesty scheme offered by the Centre on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary. The 24 inmates will be among the 100 inmates to be released from various prisons across the state, according to officials, who added that this would be first such move to release inmates on this scale.

Among the ones scheduled to be released, 98 inmates are ones who have completed 66 per cent of their term. Two inmates are over the age of 60 years and have finished half their term at Yerwada central jail.

The prison officials said that among those to be released have served almost two-third of their jail sentence and were convicted for crime, which exclude murder, rape, kidnap and other serious offences.

The proposal to release prisoners was accepted by the state government on October 1, while the actual release will take place on October 5 on account of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The release is a goodwill gesture on the occasion of 150th Gandhi Jayanti observed on Tuesday.

The committee which came up with the list and sent it to the central government consisted of additional chief secretary, home (appeals and security), principal secretary of law and judiciary, director general of police (prisons), and the additional director general of police (prisons).

The year-long process of drawing the list has resulted in the approval for release of 100 inmates from 11 jails across Maharashtra. The inmates will be released from their respective prisons on October 5.

Among the ones scheduled to be released, 98 inmates are ones who have completed 66 per cent of their term. Two inmates are over the age of 60 years and have finished half their term at Yerwada central jail.

While the two are men, among the remaining inmates, seven are women and 91 are men. Of the seven women, six are currently lodged in Yerwada, while one is in Kolhapur central jail. All these inmates are convicts in petty crimes and none are convicts in heinous crimes like murder, sexual assault, organised crime or terrorism, according to the jail authorities.

Among those to be released from Yerwada prison, include 18 males and six female inmates. Earlier, the prison department had offered amnesty to prisoners during the 50th year of independence.