New Delhi: On 30 April, Abhishek Masih, who has over 28 cases of theft, snatching and robbery registered against him, was released on bail from Tihar jail as part of the Delhi government’s move to decongest prisons and prevent spread of Covid-19. But he returned to his cell five days later, on 5 May, for stealing a scooter.
Masih isn’t the only one. At least 130 others, among 3,000 prisoners released during the ongoing pandemic from Tihar, were caught again after they were found committing crimes hours after their release.
“Masih was released from jail on 30 April and he got back to committing crime in the areas of Preet Vihar, Laxmi Nagar and Shakarpur in Delhi just two days after. He was arrested again on 5 May for stealing a scooty,” a senior police officer told ThePrint.
The officer added, “When he was arrested, three mobile phones that were stolen from the areas were also recovered. On checking his record, it was found that he was recently granted bail. Later we also found that there were many such cases in which under trials had returned to street crimes after being let out on bail.”
Also read: Sacred Games creator Vikramaditya Motwane to now tell Tihar tales with ‘Black Warrant’ series
How were they tracked
In many cases, it was only after the arrest of the person that the police found out about his or her recent bail.
“In many cases, especially those of theft and snatching, it was only after we arrested the accused that we found he was let out on bail recently due to the ongoing pandemic. Many of them told us that since they had been ‘out of action’ for long, they planned to return to ‘work’,” another police officer told ThePrint.
In some cases, the police had received information that the released undertrials have begun mingling with their gang members to plan and execute robberies.
“While these undertrials are out on bail, staff from local police stations make random phone calls to their residence to check on them and sometimes even make surprise visits. During these checks, we found that many of them had started meeting their gang members. Many cases were also worked out, following those leads,” the officer quoted above said.
Many more criminals have returned to crime
According to the police, even though 130 of those who were given bail have been re-arrested, there are inputs about many more returning to crime.
“There are many more who have started committing thefts, robberies, burglaries again. They are many who are operating independently and many who have gone back to work with their gangs. While we have traced a few, others are on our radar,” the senior police officer said.
With lockdown restrictions being eased and people beginning to coming out of their houses, many of these gangs have also became active, mostly at night.
“We received inputs about these gangs becoming active in stealing mobile phones, bicycles and scooters. We have also received many such complaints and most of the cases have been worked out,” the officer added. “Since these criminals have not been functional during the lockdown, they have now become desperate.”
Also read: Jessica Lal killer Manu Sharma walks out of Tihar Jail after LG approves early release