Alemao lodged in jail whose foundation he laid

In a strange quirk of fate, former Goa Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao, recently arrested in connection with the Louis Berger bribery case, is lodged in a jail whose foundation stone he laid.

Following his judicial remand, Alemao was yesterday sent to the newly-constructed Colvale jail after spending seven days in the Crime Branch lock-up.

He is the first politician from Goa to be lodged in the new facility, whose foundation stone he had laid in 2010.

"I myself had laid foundation stone of the Colvale jail. There are enough facilities there," Alemao told his supporters while moving out of the district court.

District Judge B P Deshpande yesterday remanded the former minister in judicial custody, pending hearing of his bail plea which is expected to come up in the court today.

The Colvale jail, located 40 km from here, is spread across 2,25,034 sqm and built at a cost of Rs 107 crores. It was inaugurated on May 30 this year.

The facility is called a 'correction home', in keeping with the guidelines of National Human Rights Commission.

The prisoners from Aguada jail have already been shifted to Colvale jail which will accommodate about 300 inmates, to start with.

The new jail has a 15-bed hospital, a dental unit, a pathology lab and a pharmacy.