Byculla jail staff’s allegations false, says Ramesh Kadam

Mumbai: Former NCP leader Ramesh Kadam, who was arrested on charges of corruption, on Tuesday claimed before a special Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) court that Byculla jail authorities had made false allegations against him so that he would be transferred to some other jail as he had made several complaints about the corrupt practices adopted at Byculla jail. Kadam also verbally informed the court about the rates charged by jail authorities for providing facilities to inmates illegally.

Levelling a series of allegations at Byculla jail authorities in court, Kadam requested special judge G.A. Sanap to examine CCTV recordings of Byculla jail to ascertain the authenticity of these allegations. He claimed that the CCTV recordings would show that he never misbehaved in jail and that was the reason they were not providing CCTV footage to the court.

Kadam said that when he started complaining about the jail authorities, he was told that being a MLA, he would be given better treatment than other inmates on the condition that he stopped complaining about illegal practices. Kadam went so far as to say that whenever anybody complained about illegal acts, jail authorities would issue a memo alleging that the complainant had misbehaved with them. Other steps were also taken to ensure delay in the complainant being produced in court or mentally and physically harass him or her so that he/she would stop complaining in future.

Kadam provided copies of a number of complaints and RTI replies to show that he had made several complaints about sale of drugs by constables in the jail. He also provided the post-mortem report of 24-year-old shoe-shine boy, Ramesh Shimpi, under RTI.

The report said that Shimpi died an unnatural death at Arthur Road jail in March 2016 owing to a head injury but the N.M. Joshi Marg police registered a case of accidental death. Kadam alleged that Shimpi died after jail authorities assaulted him.

Ramesh Kadam’s claim

• Morning and evening tea daily: Rs 30,000 per month
• Home food on another inmate's name: Rs 50,000 onwards
• Helping inmates get bail: Rs 25lakh to Rs 1 crore
• Bichauna (bedsheet): Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh
• Drugs through constables: Rs 1 lakh
• Inmates are charged heavily for stay in barrack number 8 where accused charged under section 420 (cheating) are lodged. This barrack does not house hardened criminals