NAGAON: As many as 85 HIV positive cases have been reportedly detected in two jails in Nagaon district of Assam within a month.
The cases have been reported from the Central Jail and the Special Jail, both situated in the district headquarters.
The under trial prisoners were booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Reportedly, Nagaon SP Anand Mishra has stated that drugs and illegitimate sexual relations were the main reasons behind the high rate of infection.
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Atul Pator, district Joint Director of Health Services stated, "the disease in them was detected a few days ago (sic.) ".
He further added that the virus was present in most of the inmates before they were put behind bars. There are claims that many of the infected were drug addicts.
Reportedly, the most of the inmates found positive belong to the age group between 18-38 years.
Over 1 million cases of HIV are detected in India per month.