BHUBANESWAR : An under-trial prisoner (UTP) lodged at Special Jail in Jharpada succumbed to coronavirus on Saturday. Tripati Mohanty of Ganjam district, who arrested was under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was suffering from diabetes and hypertension.
Mohanty complained of breathlessness on May 11 following which he was admitted to Capital Hospital in the city. He was then shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and later to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Mohanty tested positive for Covid-19 on May 14 and was shifted to the Covid ward of SCB. However, he died on Saturday, informed the Special Jail officials.
As many as nine officials of the Special Jail had also recently tested positive for the virus. The Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services has requested the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to conduct random testing of Jharpada Jail’s inmates and its officials. They have also requested to speed up vaccination of inmates lodged in the jail.
After the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic, 318 inmates have been infected by the virus and three have succumbed across Odisha. In a bid to decongest jails in view of the second wave, the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services earlier in the week had ordered to release 450 convicts lodged in various jails of the State on 90-day special parole.