ATS claim on lockup leaves police cribbing

Post 7/11, Bhoiwada lockup is being used by ATS

Bhoiwada lockup, a stopgap arrangement made by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) after the July 11 serial train blasts, has put the surrounding police stations and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to inconvenience.

The centrally located Bhoiwada lockup can accommodate over 800 prisoners and is the only lockup for women in the vicinity of five kilometres. Since this lockup had been used by the ATS post 7/11, the other male accused lodged in it have been sent to Matunga lockup in Matunga police station and the female accused to Nagpada lockup.

Bhoiwada police station, Wadala Truck Terminal police station, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg police station and the Anti-Corruption Bureau are the ones suffering because of non-availability of the Bhoiwada lockup to keep the accused arrested by them.

Police officials have been complaining to their seniors about the inconvenience faced by them in taking the arrested accused from one place to the other, but to no avail. “The lockup which can accommodate hundreds of undertrial prisoners is being used to shelter only a few. This is a complete misuse of the space that we have,” said a police inspector on condition of anonymity.

The investigating officers are compelled to send the undertrial prisoners to Matunga lockup, which is nearly two kilometres from Bhoiwada lockup. “We need to interrogate the accused regularly, till the time he is in police custody. The accused are brought to police station and then taken back all the way to Matunga lockup everyday. We end up wasting more time, money and energy,” said the police inspector. “We can’t take the risk of keeping an accused in the police station during the night even for a day. We have to send the accused back to Matunga or Nagpada (in case of women) lockups as per the guidelines,” said Sindhu Nikam, senior inspector of Wadala Truck Terminal police station.

Official spokesperson of the Anti-Corruption Bureau who was reluctant comment told Newsline, “We have no issues against ATS as it is a branch of the Mumbai Police.”

Joint commissioner of Police (Admin) Subhash Awte told Newsline, “ATS was on our priority list after the train blasts. This is just a temporary arrangement for a year or two.” However, Awte denied of any official correspondence by any police station till date.

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