376 foreigners lodged in UP jails, mostly for drug-related offences or for cheating; PMO takes note

  • | Sunday | 15th October, 2017

Agra: As many as 376 foreign nationals are currently lodged in jails of Uttar Pradesh. The next is Bahraich district jail with 38 undertrial and 13 convicted foreign nationals; Bajrampur has 19, Varanasi 34, Lucknow 18, Lakhimpur Kheri 15 and Gautam Buddh Nagar has 20 foreign prisoners. Of these, 137 have been convicted whereas 239 are undertrials, an RTI query has revealed. It is also possible that they are misled into the world of crime by some local racket which is using them. According to prison authorities, the majority of foreigners were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act or section 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code.

Agra: As many as 376 foreign nationals are currently lodged in jails of Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 137 have been convicted whereas 239 are undertrials, an RTI query has revealed. According to prison authorities, the majority of foreigners were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act or section 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code. Acting on a letter from a human rights activist who raised questions on rights of foreign prisoners, the Prime Minister’s Office has now taken up the matter and forwarded the complaint to the secretary, ministry of home affairs to take appropriate action.According to prison authorities, some of the jails house several foreign women inmates too. For example, 13 such inmates are lodged at special jail, Nari Bandi Niketan, in Lucknow.Taking to TOI, human rights activist Naresh Paras said, “The government must also probe how so many of foreigners are committing crime in the state. It is also possible that they are misled into the world of crime by some local racket which is using them. The state must ensure that they are provided proper legal aid. I had drawn the PMO’s attention towards this issue last month.”Last week, Paras received a letter from the PMO marked to the secretary, ministry of home affairs, saying that the letter received is “forwarded herewith for action as appropriate”.Inspector general (prisons administration and reform services) Pramod Kumar Mishra said, “There are no special rules and regulation for foreign prisoners. They have the same rights as any other domestic prisoner. This includes permission to meet and write to family members. To check whether they were guilty, caught in conspiracy or misled is work of police and courts. We don’t get into details of charges against any prisoner.”According to data provided by UP Prisons Administration and Reform Services under the Right to Information Act 2005, Maharajganj has the maximum 113 foreign prisoners in its district jail. Out of these, 40 are convicted and 73 are undertrials. The next is Bahraich district jail with 38 undertrial and 13 convicted foreign nationals; Bajrampur has 19, Varanasi 34, Lucknow 18, Lakhimpur Kheri 15 and Gautam Buddh Nagar has 20 foreign prisoners.

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