Srinagar, July 16: As many as 89 persons including 86 prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 in district jail Anantnag so far, officials said.

A senior official said that out of 239 samples taken so far from Anantnag Jail, 89 samples have tested positive for COVID-19

“Of them 86 are prisoners,” he said, adding that the first case in the jail was detected on Friday. Those who have tested positive include Mohammad Rafiq Ganai, General Secretary of Muslim League, religious cleric and vice-president Jamiat-I-Ahle Hadees, Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat (Veeri) religious cleric and vice-president Jamait-ahli-hadees and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat of proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.

These cases have raised questions on measures initiated by the Jammu & Kashmir government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons of the Union Territory.

It is worthwhile to mention here that the Prisons department of UT had repeatedly maintained that they are taking adequate measures to prevent the spread of the virus in jails.

According to details, the occupancy in jails of J&K presently is 12% more than their normal capacity.

As many as 3628 prisoners are house in 14 jails of J&K against their overall capacity of 3234—(KNO)