GUWAHATI, Nov 3 - The process of conditional release of the second lot of declared foreigners, who have completed three years in detention centres, is likely to begin tomorrow.
The first batch � ten of them � were released in August last.
�In the second lot, the home department had approved the conditional release of around 57 detenues from across the six detention camps,� official sources said.
The State government had proposed conditional release of the foreigners during a hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Harsh Mander that highlighted the plight of people lodged in these centres, and the Supreme Court had accepted the proposal.
As of now, around 335 detenues have completed three years in the detention centres, and police sources say that in another year�s time half of the 1,100-odd inmates will be eligible for conditional release.
Of the 335 more-than-three-year-old detenues, around 120 have applied for conditional release. The rest of the applications are under scrutiny, the sources said.
The condition for release is execution of bond with two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each of Indian citizens.
The detenues have to specify verifiable address of stay after release. Biometrics of each inmate�s iris (if possible) and all 10 fingerprints and photos are captured and stored in secured database. The released foreigner will have to report to the police station every week and notify if he/she changes his/her place of stay.
In case, the released foreigner violated the conditions, he or she will be apprehended and detained again.
The six detention centres now have 1,145 declared and convicted foreigners. The Kokrajhar centre has 177 inmates, Goalpara has 273, Dibrugarh 46, Tezpur 357, Jorhat 220 and Silchar 72.
More than 25 declared foreigners have died in detention camps so far.
