Prison authorities at Pune’s high security Yerwada Central jail have told the Bombay High Court that there is no threat to the life of German Bakery blast convict Himayat Baig who is currently lodged in the prison.
In an affidavit filed on Friday in the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) submitted that Baig had allegedly “lied” and that his fears were “a figment of his imagination.”
The affidavit was in response to a panic letter shot out by Baig last month to a social organisation working for the uplift of Muslims. In it, Baig had alleged that he was the victim of a lethal assault by his inmates in Yerwada where he is being lodged since December last year. Following this, Baig’s lawyers urged the court to shift Baig to any other prison. The court had directed the Prison Department to reply whether a transfer was possible.
The ATS’ affidavit categorically dismissed Baig’s importunations for his transfer to Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail on grounds that he was safe and secure in custody at Yerwada.
“In the affidavit, we ruled out Baig’s request for transfer to the already overcrowded Mumbai Central Prison and have said he can either be moved to Nagpur prison or should remain here where he is quite safe,” said Yogesh Desai, Superintendent, Yerwada Central Jail.
Last month, following Baig’s desperate calls for transfer after his alleged life-threatening assault, his father, Mirza Himayat Baig, accompanied by members of the Mulniwasi Muslim Manch, had requested authorities to transfer his son from the high-security Anda Cell in Yerwada prison and accord protection for the jailed Baig.
In his complaint, the elder Mr. Baig had stated that both he and his son had opposed the State ATS’s decision to shift Baig from the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to Yerwada jail in Pune last year as they feared a threat to his life. In 2012, Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui was killed by his co-inmate, gangster Sharad Mohol inside Yerawada prison.
