Byculla jail violence: Court orders six accused to stay in police custody till 14 July

Mumbai: A metropolitan magistrate’s court here Friday extended till 14 July the police custody of six personnel of Byculla prison, arrested in connection with the death of a woman inmate. The accused — Manisha Pokharkar, Wasima Shaikh, Shital Shegokar, Surekha Gulve, Aarti Shingne and Bindu Naikade — were produced in the court as their police remand ended Friday. During the hearing, the police officer who is investigating the case, told the court that so far they have recorded the statements of only four inmates of Byculla prison and need more time to continue the process. [caption id=“attachment_3788531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] “It’s a lengthy process and we need to take permission from the court before recording their statements,” the officer told the court. “We need to define the role of each of the six accused after examining the CCTV footages. They are giving evasive answers … Also the stick used in the assault is yet to be recovered,” the officer said. After hearing the arguments, the court extended the custody of all the accused till 14 July. An inmate Manjula Shetye (45) had died at the government-run J J Hospital on 23 June after she was allegedly beaten up by jail staffers for failing to account for two eggs and five loaves of bread which she was supposed to distribute to other inmates. The police had said Shetye was allegedly tortured and a stick was inserted in her private parts. A case of murder had been registered against the jail officials. The Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating the case, had arrested the six accused on Saturday. After Shetye’s death, around 200 prisoners had launched a protest on 24 June. They had demanded that media be allowed inside the Byculla jail. Indrani Mukerjea, the mother and prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, was among the inmates who were booked by police for rioting and other offences after they staged a protest over Shetye’s death.