27 prisoners shifted from Yerawada prison to Kalamba jail in Kolhapur

PUNE: At least 27 prisoners, most of them members of rival gangs involved in organized crime, have been shifted from Yerawada Central Jail to Kalamba jail in Kolhapur.
The move comes in the wake of a recent series of violent incidents in the Yerawada facility.
“We have transferred these prisoners for security purposes and to maintain prison discipline, as the gravity of violence was serious,” additional director-general of police (prisons) Sunil Ramanand told TOI on Friday.
“Some of these prisoners are associated with two rival groups, while some others are members of a right-wing outfit. These groups were involved in creating violence and have the potential to create further mischief if they continue in Yerawada jail. We do not want them to stay under the same roof,” Ramanand said.
“The jails in Pune (Yerawada), Mumbai (Arthur Road), Navi Mumbai (Taloja) and Thane are widely regarded as sensitive facilities, with several high-profile criminals/gangsters lodged there. The decision to shift these prisoners from Yerawada was also aimed at decongesting the jail, which had crossed the mark of 5,000 inmates,” he added.
A sudden outbreak of violence, in which two undertrials, a jailer and a guard were attacked in three separate instances, had rocked Yerawada jail earlier this month. This came on the heels of the murder of an inmate in Kalamba.
“Deputy Inspector-general of police (prisons) Yogesh Desai is already conducting an inquiry into the three incidents, to ascertain whether they were part of a conspiracy and to suggest measures to prevent law and order problems in Yerawada jail,” said Ramanand.
Ramanand said a similar movement of prisoners has not been ordered from the Kolhapur jail, where a prisoner was murdered recently, as the incident was not of a grave or a retaliatory dimension.
“We have registered three FIRs — two cases of attempt to murder and one relating to attack on a jail officer and guard. We have arrested eight accused in the attempt to murder cases and have obtained production warrants to arrest the 15 accused responsible for attacking the jail officer and guard. Our investigation is on,” senior inspector Rajendra Kadam of the Yerawada police said.
At 7.05am on July 2, three inmates — Shahrukh, alias Rashid Khan, Aman Riyaz Ansari and Salim Shabbir Shaikh — brutally attacked MCOC Act undertrial Namdeo Hambir with a stone and nails.
Hours later, 14 inmates attacked Khan to avenge the assault on Hambir. When jail officer Sandeep Ratan Ekshinge and guard Sameer Sayyed tried to intervene, they too were attacked.
At 10am the next day, six inmates bludgeoned 35-year-old Mohammad Jabal Nadaf, another MCOC Act undertrial from Sangli, with a stone at the CJ yard.