Eighteen Kashmiri prisoners, detained under stringent Public Safety Act, were released from different jails in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, while 36 others, whose detention orders have been revoked, are to be freed soon, officials said on Thursday.
In addition, 52 prisoners were released from various jails in Jammu and Kashmir over the past few days, taking the total number of released inmates in the Union Territory to decongest prisons to save them from turning into fertile grounds for COVID-19 to 288, the officials said.
A number of persons were arrested under the PSA and shifted outside J&K in August last year following nullification of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two UTs.
On April 1, a three-member high powered committee headed by Executive Chairman of J-K State Legal Services Authority, Justice Rajesh Bindal along with Principal Secretary (Home) Shaleen Kabra and DGP (Prisons) V K Singh as its members, passed directions for the release of jail inmates except those involved in militancy related cases to decongest prisons in the UT.
The committee was constituted by the J&K government following a Supreme Court order on March 23, directing the states and the UTs to decongest jails to ensure social distancing among prisoners.
18 Kashmiri PSA detainees released from outside jails added by Muslim Kashmir on
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