Kasab takes another life

Housed inside the prison, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only surviving Pakistani terrorist from the 26/11 attacks, is about as safe as you can get in a Mumbai police detention facility — but that level of security cost a man his life on Thursday, reports Vignesh Iyer.

One man’s detention inside Arthur Road prison is also punishing the general public living in the jail’s vicinity.

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Housed inside the prison, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only surviving Pakistani terrorist from the 26/11 attacks, is about as safe as you can get in a Mumbai police detention facility — but that level of security cost a man his life on Thursday.

Nitin Jadhav (27), who lived in Adarsh Nagar, located behind the prison, died of a heart attack in the time that his relatives say they lost arguing with police personnel who refused to allow inside the lane a taxi to take him to a hospital.

The jail is located at Mahalaxmi, on the road between Arthur Road Naka and the Saath Raasta circle. The lane leading to the court inside the prison — as well as Jadhav’s apartment — is now barricaded at both ends.

Vehicles moving on the main road from the Saath Raasta end towards Arthur Road Naka are allowed to pass, but the opposite lane is also permanently shut for vehicles. Nitin’s brother Uday said: “We waited for a taxi for more than 45 minutes – Nitin died on the way to the hospital.”

“After Nitin collapsed due to a heart attack, we took him to a nearby dispensary where we were told to move him to Nair hospital immediately,” said a friend who did not want to be named.

“Had the police been a little more considerate, we could have got a taxi from the main road and taken him to the hospital in time,” he added. Denied permission, Nitin’s family waited for a taxi at the other end of the road.

Nitin, who worked as a guard at a private security company, got married nine months ago. And his family is not alone in its complaints.

Suraj Mehta, who owns Richman Garments, in the vicinity, said he has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Bombay High Court asking that the normal life of residents and shopkeepers not be affected. “The court appointed a committee to address our problems but the committee has remained on paper”, he said.

Kishore Makhwana, who runs a travel agency near the prison, said: “For six months, my car was stuck behind the barricades, now it’s parked at my relative’s place.”

Vishram Bagela, who runs an electronics servicing shop nearby, said the police do not allow television sets and refrigerators to be moved to his shop by automobile. “We have to take it to our shop from the main road, which makes the job laborious,” he said.