Raigad Police has shifted Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV, to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. As per the claims made by Maharashtra police, Arnab was using a mobile phone at the quarantine centre in a municipal school in Alibaug where he has been kept in judicial custody. Arnab is an accused in the abetment of a suicide case of an interior designer and her mother.
"On Friday late evening, we learned that Goswami was active on social media, using somebody's mobile phone. We had seized his personal mobile when he was arrested from his Worli residence on Wednesday.
As the investigating officer of the case, I wrote to the Alibaug jail superintendent seeking an inquiry report as to how he got access to mobile use in the quarantine centre. Thereafter, we decided to shift him to Taloja jail on Sunday morning," quoted the Times of India, Investigating office inspector Jamil Shaikh of Raigad crime branch as saying.
Taloja Jail: The infamous Jail
Taloja jail where Arnab has now been shifted to has been in news in past for all bad reasons. The inmates have always complained of bad conditions inside the jail. Overcrowding, limited toilets, poor medical care, among others are some major issues the jail is plagued with. Moreover, the jail has also come to the scanner due to rising Covid cases among inmates. In August, almost half of the prisoners were showing flu or cold-like symptoms.
As of 28 July, there are 2,201 inmates in Taloja-more than its official capacity of 2,124, which in itself is fertile ground for coronavirus spread. If half the inmates in Taloja suffer from fever-like symptoms, the amount is about 1,000 which tells how alarming is the situation the jail.
Moreover, even the police in past have shown its inability to protect inmates. In January this year, Mumbai police in chief metropolitan magistrate court had said that it should not send gangster Ejaz Lakdawala as they fear he could be attacked by members of Dawood or Chhota Rajan gangs lodged inside.
