KASARAGOD: Cheemeni Open Jail sitting on a 308-acre plot wears a vacant look. Nearly 85% of its prisoners -- in for heinous crimes such as murders, political killings and sex crimes -- are out on parole for the past two years. "They went home in March 2020 because of Covid. But even in February this year, the Supreme Court asked the government of Kerala not to insist on their surrender considering the pandemic had not abated," said an officer.
Unlike in Thrissur, the prisoners of Cheemeni Open Jail had not created any trouble during this period, he said. "But they cannot be out of prison for long. They should return to prison and complete their sentences," he said.
Of the 176 inmates, 151 prisoners are on parole now. The absence of the prisoners has hit the functioning of the open jail, which over the years started 16 business ventures to keep the inmates engaged and employed. "We had to shut most of the units because they are not coming back," the official said.
The open prison closed its Freedom Food Factory, which made chapatis and biryani, cafeteria, laterite stone cutting unit, vegetable farm, men's salon, poultry farm, and pig and rabbit farms.
Now, the prison is running only its fuel station and cow farm. "We had to bring in 20 prisoners from Kannur jail to keep these units running," said the official.
With the prisoners from Kannur jail, the open jail now has 45 inmates. In contrast, the jail has 55 staff.
Before Covid, the prison had sold vegetables worth Rs 20 lakh in a year. Recently, it earned Rs 70,000 from chicken in 35 days. "Since there was no one to take care of the pig farm, we auctioned the pigs and got Rs 11 lakh," said an official. The public cafeteria was generating a profit of Rs 1.5 lakh every month but had to be shut down.
Now, the prison has 70 cows and 100 goats. The fuel station is doing business worth around Rs 9 lakh every day. "People come from as far as Nileshwar to fill their tanks," said the official quoted above.
Open prisons are run on trust with minimal supervision and security, he said. "Inmates are encouraged to take up jobs. But they are expected to complete their sentences. In normal circumstances, parole is only for two weeks," he said.