Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Mumbai
Authorities at the Arthur Road jail here have kept “barrack No. 12” ready if fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi is extradited from the UK in connection with the $2 billion PNB fraud and money-laundering case, a Home Department official said today.
The prisons department last week shared information with the state Home Department about the status of the Arthur Road prison and facilities that could be provided there, in case Modi is to be lodged in the barrack, he said. UK’s Westminster Magistrate’s Court last month denied bail to Modi, who has been behind bars at one of England’s most overcrowded prisons, Her Majesty’s Prison Wandsworth.
The state government recently submitted a letter of assurance to the Centre about the facilities that it could provide in the prison, he said.
If extradited, Modi would be kept in one of two rooms in barrack No. 12 of the Arthur Road prison, the official said. As of now, three prisoners are lodged in one room while the other one is vacant, he said, adding that if extradited, Modi and Mallya would be lodged in the same room, having an area of 20 ft by 15 ft and equipped with three fans, six tube lights and two windows.
The prison department also assured that Modi would be kept in a cell where the number of other detainees was not more than three. “If lodged in the barrack, Modi is likely to get three square metre personal space and will be provided a cotton mat, pillow, bed-sheet and blanket,” he said.
