A cramped 10X15sq ft cell, a hard floor to sleep on, a pillow, two bedsheets and, possibly, mosquitoes for company.
A cramped 10X15sq ft cell, a hard floor to sleep on, a pillow, two bedsheets and, possibly, mosquitoes for company. These are probably the memories that suspended MLAs Kshitij Thakur and Ram Kadam, arrested by the Mumbai police crime branch for allegedly assaulting a sub-inspector on Tuesday, will take away from their two-day-three-night stay at the Arthur Road jail.
The two MLAs were on Friday sent to cool their heels in the jail till Monday. The duo had sought bail after being remanded in judicial custody till April 5 by a magistrate court, but the order on their application has been put off till Monday.
Sources in the jail said the two MLAs were assigned to a cell earlier occupied by a high-profile accused in the Adarsh scam, who is now out on bail. They are sharing their new home, next to the high security anda cell, with three others — one of whom is Ramchandra Karanjule, 51, sentenced to death on Thursday for murdering an inmate of an orphanage in Panvel.
The identities of the other two occupants is not known. Karanjule will be moved to the Yerwada jail in Pune soon.
Since the cell has no provision for cots, the MLAs will have to sleep on the floor.
A ceiling fan 25ft high alone can provide respite from the heat. No special arrangements have been made to repel mosquitoes. Their silver lining: the court has permitted home-cooked food to be brought in.
With about 2,500 inmates lodged in a jail that has a capacity for only 1,000, Kadam and Thakur will find Arthur Road jail to be several shades worse than the Mumbai police crime branch lock-up they spent Thursday night in.
Inspector general of police (prisons) V B Lokhande said the two MLAS were put in a separate cell for their safety. “Both were brought in around 6pm. We decided to keep them in a separate cell so that they are not attacked by other inmates.”
Although he refused to divulge how many guards have been deployed for their safety, he said there is ample security outside their barrack.
Police officers said the two were earlier interrogated separately at the unit 1 office of the crime branch in Mumbai. Sources said they did not reveal the names of any other persons involved in the attack. An officer said the questioning continued for a few hours and lasted till 11.15pm on Thursday. They were then sent back to the lock-up. “They were given tap water filled in a plastic bottle to drink,” said the officer.
On Friday, they were taken to the GT Hospital in Mumbai for a routine medical check-up and then to court, which reserved the order on their bail application till Monday.
@manishpaathak
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