An undertrial inmate from Arthur road or Mumbai Central jail had manhandled a prison constable by catching his collar. The jail staff disconnected the inmate's intercom call with a relative in the meeting room as he exceeded the time limit of 20 mins. Acting upon which the inmate caught the constable by his collar. A case for assault on a public servant has been registered by NM Joshi police after a complaint from the prison officials.
The jail authorities claim the 'Mulaqat or meeting' was stopped after the cases of Covid-19 started seeing a rise across the jail and cities.
"After seeing a decline in cases, the jail authorities started the mulaqat on Thursday," said sources from the prison department. "The undertrial inmate identified as Shravan Janardhan Chavan alias Awan was booked for an attempt to murder a case by the Deonar police station. He was also booked under the stricken Maharashtra Control of Organise crime act. It was from around 4:15 pm to 4:30 pm, when Chavan was busy talking on the intercom in the meeting room with his relative. Every inmate is allowed to talk for 20 minutes on the intercom but Chavan exceeded the limit. When the Subedar (constable) in the room tried to stop him, he was not ready to end the conversation. However, Anil Jadhav (29), a police constable standing at the point reached out to inform him about the ending time. With no response from Chavan, Jadhav disconnected the call," said a police officer.
The police said Chavan got angry, he abused the constable and caught him by his collar.
Jadhav further approached the NM Joshi police and registered a case under section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian penal code.
Sources from the jail said Chavan had a past record of misbehaviour and assault in the jail. He was shifted to another circle or barrack after a fight with an inmate.
An official from the Arthur road jail said, "A counselling session was done among the inmates after the incident. The jail officials announced to follow the norms saying the mulaqat or meeting is to help the inmates meet and talk with the relative on the intercom, which helps them in communication. If such behaviour of inmates is found, action will be taken against them by registering a case," added the official.
