Train firing accused's plea for jail transfer Taloja facility 'overcrowded' authorities tell court

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Authorities of Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai on Friday sought dismissal of former RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary's plea to shift him from Akola jail by telling a court here that the former was "overcrowded".
Chaudhary is accused of shooting dead his senior colleague Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express near Palghar railway on July 31 last year. He was apprehended near the tracks some time later and has been in jail since.
He had moved an application through advocate Jayawant Patil seeking transfer to the jail in Navi Mumbai from the facility in Akola, some 550 kilometres from here.
On Friday, the court said it had received the response of Taloja jail via email.
As per the reply, the prison is "very sensitive" and does not have enough space or staff to accompany the accused from prison to court and vice verse and, therefore, his application should be rejected.
The capacity of the jail is around 1900 undertrials, while the current figure of those lodged there stood at 2800, the reply stated.
It also said those accused under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOC) Act are lodged there and they often misbehave with jail staffers and engage in fights with each other.
Due to a structural audit, some barracks have been kept vacant and, hence, there is no space for new inmates, the reply added.
The matter will be heard next on January 9.
Chaudhary is charged under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), the Railways Act and Maharashtra Prevention Of Defacement of Property Act.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)