Undertrial prisoner dies of Covid in Delhi hospital

The undertrial prisoner had tested positive on April 22 and he was referred to GTB Hospital and admitted there on the same day.

New Delhi: A 61-year-old undertrial prisoner of Tihar Jail died in a hospital in Delhi five days after he tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Wednesday. He was identified as Mukesh Talwar, a resident of Jain Park, in New Delhi.

"Talwar, an inmate of central jail number 7 of Tihar, had tested positive on April 22. He was referred to GTB Hospital and admitted there on the same day. Later, information was received that he expired in the hospital on Tuesday," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said.

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He was sent to jail on March 9, in a case registered under the POCSO Act at Bindapur police station, the officials said.

On Tuesday, a 43-year-old under-trial prisoner of Tihar Jail also died due to Covid. Mohammad Anish, lodged in prison since December 2019 in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and was admitted to a jail hospital with mild symptoms.

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On Tuesday morning, his condition deteriorated and he was referred to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where he died later.

Four inmates died due to Covid in Delhi since the pandemic began last year. Two COVID-19-positive inmates of Mandoli Jail died on June 15 and July 4 last year.

According to data shared by the prisons department, 284 inmates have tested positive for the Covid since March 2021. A total of 115 staff members have tested positive for the virus since March this year.

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The first Covid infection among inmates was reported in Rohini Jail on May 13, 2020.

Over 200 prisoners are lodged in Tihar jail where over 100 members of the jail staff are Covid positive.

AGENCY INPUTS