Chhattisgarh jails overcrowded: Minister

RAIPUR - The jails in Chhattisgarh are overcrowded, with some jails being crammed with more than thrice their capacity, the states Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said Monday.

In a written reply to Congress member Mahant Ramsunder Das in the state assembly, Kanwar said the situation in central jails was even more serious.

Kanwar said the state has five central jails, 10 district jails and 12 sub-jails. He gave the example of Durg central jail, which houses 1,317 inmates as against its capacity of 396.

Raipur central jail had a total of 2,277 inmates, compared to its capacity of 1,130 while Bilaspur central jail housed 2,080 prisoners, far more than its capacity of 628, he said.