Violent protests at West Bengal's Jalpaiguri jail as inmates demand bail due to COVID-19 pandemic, throw stones

-

Jalpaiguri: A section of inmates at the Jalpaiguri correctional home in West Bengal started violent protests on Saturday, demanding that they be granted bail in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

Representational image. AFP

The correctional facility houses around 750 prisoners in eight wards and of them, 50-60 inmates are protesting, citing a Supreme Court directive, they said.

On 23 March, the Supreme Court had directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to seven-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police personnel are trying to enter the main prison area, the gate of which has been shut by the inmates from inside, said Chief Disciplinary Officer Ashim Acharya. They are throwing stones from inside but no one has been injured till now, he said.

Jail authorities earlier tried to persuade the prisoners but they continued with the protests, officials said, adding that they have been provided masks and sanitisers. Officials said police personnel have been deployed along the periphery of the facility to prevent any attempts of jailbreak.

Around 2,000 undertrial prisoners and convicts have been released on bail and parole from various jails in the state, following the Supreme Court directive.

Last month, clashes broke out at the Dumdum Correctional Home near Kolkata over the state government's decision not to allow the inmates to meet their families due to the coronavirus outbreak.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2ROmohB
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more