Once it was the hub of underworld activities, with several high profile criminals spending years as undertrials facing cases for extortion and murder, hatching plots for more crimes using mobiles and a network of contacts, and living a luxurious life inside, thanks to the complacency of jail officials.
South Mumbai’s Arthur Road central prison is home to Who’s Who of the underworld, whose names once sent shivers down the spine of rich and famous and put the law enforcement agencies in a tizzy.
From dreaded don Arun Gawli to gangsters Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa, from the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings accused including film star Sanjay Dutt to Pakistani terrorist and the only survivor of the 10 heavily armed attackers of 26/11 terror attacks Ajmal Kasab, from political prisoners during pre-independence movement to Pravin Mahajan, who gunned down his elder brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, all spent their trial period in this jail.
Built in 1926, Arthur Road is Mumbai’s largest and oldest prison. Although it was built to accommodate 1,074 prisoners, on an average the number of inmates is generally over 3000, far exceeding its capacity in terms of space, sanitation and other facilities.
But for members of the crime syndicates, who tip guards and officers generously, a luxurious lifestyle is always within easy reach.
When Maharashtra’s minister of state for home Ramesh Bagve visited the jail after a scuffle between Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa, he found that Salem's cell had marble flooring, his bathroom was “five-star” and was living a luxurious life. He was also being served home-cooked food daily despite court restrictions, and had a closet with new branded shirts and trousers. Same was about Mustafa’s cell. A shocked Bagve later told the legislative assembly that strict action would be taken against erring jail officers.
For those who belong to powerful gangs, it was easy to control underworld activities from within the jail through mobile phone. The jail was literally ruled by underworld elements belonging to Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Chotta Rajan gangs.
However, a newly-installed jammer (to block out mobile signals) may have put an end to that. Notorious undertrials were almost running a second home inside, from hatching a murder to extorting money, procuring drugs and mobile phones. All this and more heinous activities were rampantly carried out in this jail in the past.
A few decades ago, this prison was one of the most feared in India, because of the treatment prisoners received from the inmate overseers. The cells were overcrowded and the prisoners had to sleep on blankets infested with lice. They were allowed to wash each day, but the ration of water was very little. If they stood up against the overseers, they were punished in terrible ways.
The overcongestion of Arthur Road forced the state government to establish a new prison at Taloja in Navi Mumbai, which became operational in 2009. Several high profile criminals have been shifted there, which dampened the spirit of at least some of the undertrials, who were making a kill by offering various services to the big ones. Shamin, a petty criminal facing trial for theft at railway stations, made big bucks when Abu Salem and likes entered the prison some years back. “The big guys were used to leading a stylish lifestyle and ready to pay for it,” he said.
Shamin ran errands for Abu Salem, Gawli and others, sometimes would give them massage, fill up water for their bath, fetch cigarettes and even serve food. “It’s a tough life in the prison and not everyone can get used to it,” he said, while being produced to Sewri sessions court for trial.
Long ‘leave’ facility
An confidential inquiry report by the Maharashtra prison department revealed that several key undertrials, including Mohammad Dossa, Arun Gawli, fugitive ganglord Chotta Rajan’s right-hand man D K Rao, among others, freely availed ‘leave’ out of the jail. The jail authorities neither reported the leave granted nor did they raise objections to the leave applications in court.
Ironically, it was thanks to Ajmal Kasab, that this nexus between officials and powerful criminals came to the fore. When big names, like Rao and Gawli, were shifted to new Taloja jail to decongest Arthur Road and to provide maximum security to Kasab, they started demanding similar treatment at the new jail. When it was refused, they cited the practice followed at Arthur Road, which blew the lid off the nexus. These undertrials would go out of Arthur Road for hours, days and even months, for reasons like medical check-up, attending wedding, death of a distant relative and what not.
This practice was followed in some other jails also, which resulted in 22 undertrials missing from Pune’s Yerawada jail.
Arthur Road is meant to house undertrials, and once an accused is convicted, then he is shifted to other central prisons in Maharashtra. But Kasab, who was awarded death sentence on May 6 by a special court for his participation in 26/11 terror attacks, has been an exception to the rule for security reasons. Nevertheless, with 75 undertrials having moved out to the new Taloja prison, the notorious jail has seen a dip in activities like extortion, underworld plots and drug use since March 2009.
Rivalries spill over
Gang rivalries often spill over inside the jail premises. The brutal killing of Chotta Rajan aide O P Singh in the high security Nashik jail in 2002 was hatched and executed by D K Rao from Arthur Road jail. In January 2007, craving to take revenge for the murder of their gang-member John D'Souza, four undertrials killed Asgar Ali Mehendi in the jail premises. On July 24 this year, Mustafa Dossa, believed to be close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, attacked and injured Abu Salem.
Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria suggested separate jails for first time offenders to prevent them from being influenced by hardcore criminals. Separating the two even prevents fresh recruitment in gangs.
Around 180 prisoners are crammed in a cell designed to house 50 and prisoners are forced to sleep in awkward positions, which led to an alarming prevalence of HIV and TB. After the High Court’s rap, an HIV laboratory has been set up.
