More suspensions at Mumbai prison

The Maharashtra government today suspended nine staffers of Arthur Road and Nashik Central prisons in connection with the murder of gangster...

The Maharashtra government today suspended nine staffers of Arthur Road and Nashik Central prisons in connection with the murder of gangster O.P. Singh inside Nashik jail on Sunday.

Addressing a weekly press conference here today after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Chaggan Bhujbal also announced that the CID will probe the alleged murder of Singh, lapses in security and what role the jail staff played in the incident.

‘Rajan aide was in touch
with jail officials’

The murder of former Chhota Rajan aide Omprakash Singh in the Nashik Road Central Jail has taken a new twist. The Mumbai police now suspect Rajan’s trusted aide Santosh Shetty masterminded the killing.

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According to police sources, they have evidence to suggest that Shetty was in touch with some jail officials in Nashik. Smuggler-turned-gangster Shetty himself was in the Nashik jail in 1996 and had at the time the best of amenities there.

Investigators have also learnt that some insider had passed on vital information regarding Singh’s possible movements. Singh was to be brought to Mumbai on Monday. A close relative of the gangster told The Indian Express that Singh was aware of the plot and had approached the jail authorities to move him to a safer location.

Navin Chaumal, the lawyer of Singh’s wife Meenakshi Singh, has alleged that the Nashik jail officials were aware of the threat and were planning to send Singh’s dummy to Mumbai on the day he was killed. Singh had to go to Mumbai for a court hearing on Monday. — J DEY & RAKSHIT SONAWANE

The probe will find out whether the jail staff were actually responsible for the death or it was carelessness on their part. Another separate inquiry into the security lapses in state prisons will be conducted by Additional Director General of Police K.K. Kashyap.

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However, Bhujbal constantly avoided questions regarding Nashik Jail Superintendent Yogesh Desai — how he was reinstated and sent to the significant posting when he had an Anti-Corruption Bureau case against him and why no action has been taken against him.

The list of charges against acting Superintendent of Arthur Road Jail K.V. Mhamre, who was suspended by Inspector General U.D. Rajwade on Tuesday, is longer, but it appears he too escaped action for quite some time. Under his tenure, the jail has seen 15 unnatural deaths, escape of an inmate and violent clashes between two groups of prisoners.An inquiry conducted by the Vigilance squad also found gross carelessness by the jail authorities.

A Prison Department directive to keep a check on smuggling of mobile phones and narcotics inside the prison was never implemented at the Arthur Road jail. Further, there was a sharp rise in the number of deaths inside the prison — from 19 in 2000 and 10 in 2001, the number rose to 21 by October 2002. Of these, 15 deaths occurred due to serious injuries, asphyxia and suicide.

Though Bhujbal today said that Mhamre’s suspension was not directly related to Singh’s death, a senior Home Department official said the Nashik jail incident gave an opportunity to the department to deal with him.

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However, there are no signs of any action against Nashik jail’s Desai yet. Caught red-handed accepting bribe two years ago, he was not arrested or even suspended.

Two months ago, the government rejected the ACB’s request to take action against him on the basis of a technicality: while the board had found the powder they sprinkled on the notes on Desai’s hands, they did not find the money itself.

‘‘The manner in which the ACB’s application was rejected reflects Desai’s clout in the corridors of power,’’ a senior official of the board said.