At 45.4%, city had highest rate of recidivism in country in 2017

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 23

Nearly 40 per cent of the convicts and 28 per cent undertrials lodged at the Burail jail in 2017 were not from the city. The information was revealed in a report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on prisons, pointing towards the fact that a large number of people contributing towards the rising crime in the city are outsiders.

As per the report, a total of 459 convicts, including 31 females, were lodged at the jail on December 31, 2017. Only 278 of them were from the city while 173 were from other states and the remaining eight from other countries.

Similarly, there were a total of 508 undertrials in the jail as on December 31, 2017. Of them, 365 were city residents while 135 were from other states and eight from other countries.

A senior police official said since Chandigarh was a capital of two states and also an education hub, a large number of people from neighbouring states visit the city. Hence, the probability of outsiders indulging in crime was also high, the official added.

The Burail jail has a capacity to accommodate 1,120 prisoners — 1,000 male and 120 female.

In 2017, 967 prisoners, including 51 females, were lodged in the jail.

The NCRB report further reveals that of the total convicts in the jail, 172 were in the age group of 18 to 30 years, 224 were between 30 and 50 years of age and 63 were aged 50 and above.

Similarly, among the total undertrials lodged in the jail, 232 were in the age group of 18 to 30 years, 258 were between 30 to 50 years of age and 18 were aged 50 and above.