Allow new prisoners only if they test negative, jail official writes to Chief Justice

Days after five Padarayanapura rioting suspects tested positive for Covid-19, authorities of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison are worried about how to protect the inmates.

V Sheshamurthy, the chief superintendent of the prison, has written to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, seeking directions to the police to compulsorily test every new prisoner. Prisoners should be brought into the jail only if their Covid-19 tests turn negative, a source said.

The Parappana Agrahara prison is the largest in Karnataka with about 5,000 inmates. "The accused must remain in the custody of the police until the Covid-19 results test negative. Only if the results are negative, they shall be brought to the prison for judicial custody," Sheshamurthy is said to have written in the letter.