LUCKNOW: Saharanpur Jail administration has ordered an enquiry after 23 inmates lodged in the prison were detected to be HIV positive. The Jail administration has confirmed with The New Indian.
The matter came to the fore last week when a health check-up camp was conducted by the Health Department in Saharanpur Jail on June 15.
The blood samples of the inmates, who were detected to be infected with TB, were collected for the test of HIV too and of them, 23 were detected to be HIV positive. One of them is a female inmate.
The Health department immediately made the report and sent it to the Jail administration and state government.
“The Jail administration has ordered an inquiry. The history of the inmates has also been checked,” said an officer.
Of the detected HIV-positive inmates, six were new inmates. The majority of them were arrested in drug cases. “The Health Department is also trying to ascertain what could be the source of the disease,” added the officer.
The Jail capacity is 523, however, over 2000 inmates were lodged in the prisons.
The affected inmates are natives of the Deoband, Nakud and Behat areas of Uttar Pradesh.