Patil, Khadse meet Kasab in Arthur Rd jail

State home minister RR Patil and opposition leader Eknath Khadse visited the Arthur Road jail on Tuesday morning. The duo met Ajmal Kasab, who when asked by Khadse how he was feeling, said, “I have reaped what I sowed.”

State home minister R R Patil and opposition leader Eknath Khadse visited the Arthur Road jail on Tuesday morning. The duo met Ajmal Kasab, who when asked by Khadse how he was feeling, said, “I have reaped what I sowed.”

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Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is on death row.

Patil and Khadse paid a surprise visit at the jail to check the facilities provided to inmates and to monitor the conditions they were living in. Patil approached the inmates and asked them if they had any grievances and also asked them about the quality of food they were being provided.

Patil said that he could not manage to speak to Kasab for more than few sentences following which, he took a round of the jail and observed that it was over crowded.

“Not only are the number of prisoners more, the number of jail staffers is also quite low than the sanctioned strength,” added the home minister.

The Arthur Road jail has a capacity of 781 prisoners, but currently holds over 2,000 inmates. “We will be shifting some of the prisoners to the Taloja jail,” said Patil.

It also turned out that fewer under trails are produced in the court due to shortage of manpower.

“The percentage of under trials produced in the court in October and November was around 43%. The home minister has asked us to produce all under trials in court on time,” said Surendra Kumar, Inspector General (prisons).