Byculla Jail row: Indrani Mukerjea urged inmates to seek help, media access after convict's murder, says official

Mumbai: Sheena Bora murder case accused Indrani Mukerjea, lodged in Byculla Jail in Mumbai, `instigated’ inmates to stage a protest to seek legal and media access inside the prison after the death of a woman convict, a prison official claimed on Wednesday. Indrani has been named as an accused in a case of rioting and unlawful assembly inside the jail along with Divya Pahuja, an accused in Haryana gangster Sandeep Gadholi encounter case, and others. Indrani and Divya were behind the protest inside the jail, the official claimed. [caption id=“attachment_3756501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Indrani Mukherjea. PTI[/caption] Manju Shette, a woman inmate, was allegedly beaten up on 23 June by jail staff for failing to account for two eggs and five ‘paav’ (bread loaves) meant for distribution to inmates as she was assisting jail staff as a warden. After Manju’s death, Indrani, Divya and other inmates including Shahnaz Maniyar, Vaishali Mudle, Hasina Shaikh, Mariam Shaikh and around 200 others began a protest on 24 June for their demands, which included making available a lawyer and allowing media access inside the jail, police said. On 26 June, Indrani complained of body pain and was taken to hospital, the prison official said. There was nothing abnormal in her medical reports and she was sent back after being given some tablets, he said. Manju, sentenced to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment in a murder case, had served around 13 years. She had requested jail authorities to shift her to Kalyan prison in adjoining Thane district, the official added. The special CBI court on Wednesday allowed Indrani to approach the police to lodge her complaint that she was beaten up and threatened of sexual assault by jail officials for joining the protest over Shette’s death. Indrani told the court that she was threatened and assaulted after she said that she would give a statement in connection with Shette’s death.