Maharashtra Home Minister AnilDeshmukh on Thursday said the Nagpur central prison will be locked down immediately to prevent the spread of the COVID- 19.With the decision, the Nagpur central prison becomes the eighth jail to be locked down in the state, according to an official statement.Earlier, the government had locked down Mumbai, Thane and Yerwada central prisons, Byculla and Kalyan district prisons and Aurangabad and Nashik prisons to stem the spread of the viral infection.The statement said that, as in the case of the other prisons, the Nagpur jail superintendent will have to deploy officials and staffers in two shifts.The officials and staffers working in the jail should be provided food and accommodation in the prison premise itself, the statement said.Care should be taken to keep the main gate of the prison completely shut during the lockdown, the statement said.It added that the contact numbers of senior prison officials be shared with families of the staffers so that the kin can call up the seniors in case there is any problem.The nationwide lockdown, imposed late last month to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus, will be in force till May 3.
