The Mumbai Central Prison, also referred to as Arthur Road Jail, was built in 1926,
and is
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
's largest and oldest
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
. It houses most of the city's prisoners. It was declared a Central Jail in 1972. Although its name was changed to Mumbai Central Prison, it is still often referred to as Arthur Road Jail.
The jail occupies of land.
Location
The jail is located near Jacob Circle/Sat Rasta, between the
Mahalaxmi railway station
Mahalaxmi (Pronunciation: əɦaːləkʂmiː station code: MX), also spelled Mahalakshmi, is a railway station on the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai. Trains starting from pass through Mahalaxmi. Major landma ...
and
Chinchpokli railway station
Chinchpokli (formerly Chinchpugli, station code: CHG) is a railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway
The Mumbai Suburban Railway ( Marathi: मुंबई उपनगरीय रेल्वे) (colloquially ...
and the
Jacob Circle monorail station
Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk, is a monorail station and the southernmost terminus of the Mumbai Monorail, serving the area of Mahalaxmi and Byculla in South Mumbai. It was inaugurated on 3 March 2019 by Piyush Goyal the then,Railway Minister and ...
in the southern part of the city. It is now surrounded by residential property renting for Rs 12–25,000/sq foot, while commercial property is leased for Rs 30–60,000/sq foot.
Conditions
The jail was originally built to accommodate 800 prisoners but the average number of inmates is 2900
—far exceeding its capacity in terms of space, sanitation and other facilities. It is often reported that the jail is overcrowded, and there have been proposals to build another such facility in the eastern suburbs of
Mankhurd
Mankhurd (Pronunciation: aːnkʰuɾd̪(ə) is a suburb in eastern Mumbai, Maharashtra. Mankhurd railway station is on the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.
Geography
The Mankhurd suburb is part of and the easternmost boundary of ...
to ease the load on the jail.
The State Human Rights Commission had often suggested that the prison be decongested. Furthermore, a committee which was appointed to inspect the security of the jail has suggested that the prison be shifted due to many high rise constructions around the jail.
In June 2021, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the superintendent of the prison wrote to
BMC to ask them to start a vaccination drive for the prisoners.
In July 2021, eight new barracks were added to the jail which could house 200 additional inmates. There were several delays in construction, which lasted five years, due to shortage of funds. This was done in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding situation, something that the prison authorities were frequently criticized for.
Prison violence
The jail has seen instances of prison violence amongst gangs.
In 2006, a clash between the members of gangs belonging to
Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim (; born 26 December 1955) is an Indian mafia gangster, drug kingpin, and wanted terrorist from Dongri, Mumbai. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim ...
and
Chhota Rajan broke out. After this incident, the authorities started lodging opposing groups in different parts of the jail.
In 2010, a violent clash broke out between the gangster
Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa, who were the accused in the
1993 Bombay serial blasts, which let to Salem's face being slashed with a sharpened spoon.
Notable inmates
*
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...
, a
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
actor who was imprisoned for illegal possession of armed weapons
*
Ajmal Kasab
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab (13 July 1987 – 21 November 2012) was a Pakistani terrorist and a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist fighter organization, through which he took part in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in Maharashtr ...
, a Pakistani terrorist and member of
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...
who took part in the
2008 Mumbai attacks
*
Abu Salem, terrorist and organised crime leader
*Aryan Khan, son of actor
Shah Rukh Khan, was sent to this prison for drug related offenses
*Maharashtra Home Minister,
Anil Deshmukh of Maha Vikas Aghadi Government formed by SHIV SENA, NCP and INDIRA CONGRESS, was sent to this jail for running Extortion Racket conniving with Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Parambir Singh.
*
Raj Kundra
Raj Kundra is a British-Indian businessman, who was ranked as the 198th richest British Asian by Success.
His father, Bal Krishan Kundra was a middle-class businessman and his mother Usha Rani Kundra was a shop assistant when he was a child.
...
, British-Indian businessman, and husband of actress
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty Kundra (born Ashwini Shetty; Née Shetty; 8 June 1975) is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi-language films. Shetty made her screen debut in the thriller ''Baazigar'' (1993) which garnered her nominations for two Filmfa ...
was sent to this prison for a pornography case.
Popular culture
The prison features in
Gregory David Roberts
Gregory David Roberts (born Gregory John Peter Smith; 1952) is an Australian author best known for his novel ''Shantaram (novel), Shantaram''. He is a former opioid use disorder, heroin addict and convicted bank robber who escaped from Pentrid ...
' award-winning book
Shantaram, which details his life on the run and his time spent in Mumbai, including a stint in Arthur Road. Several scenes in
Katherine Boo
Katherine "Kate" J. Boo (born August 12, 1964) is an American investigative journalist who has documented the lives of people in poverty. She has won the MacArthur "genius" award (2002) and the National Book Award for Nonfiction (2012), and her wo ...
's
Behind the Beautiful Forevers take place in the facility.
See also
*
Harsul Central Jail
*
Yerwada Central Jail
Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over va ...
References
{{Reflist
1926 establishments in India
Buildings and structures in Mumbai
Prisons in Maharashtra