Pulhal Central Prison is a central prison complex located in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

(

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is about 23 km from the city centre. The prison became operational from 2006 replacing the erstwhile Chennai Central Prison.

Construction

The plan for the construction of Pulhal prison was conceived during the early 2000s. Sites in Pulhal and in

Maraimalai Nagar Maraimalai Nagar is a satellite town of Chennai, Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is a municipality town in Chengalpattu district. It lies in the southern part of the Chennai metropolitan area around 50 km from downtown Chennai ...

were initially considered, and the final decision to construct at Pulhal was made due to the availability of large parcel of government-owned land. It was constructed by Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation (TNPHC) for a cost of 1,770 million in less than 3 years. It was inaugurated by then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, on 26 November 2006.

Structure and facilities

It is among the largest prison complexes in India. The prison complex occupies an area corresponding to . It comprises three complexes of buildings: Pulhal Prison I for convicts, Pulhal Prison II for remand prisoners and Special Prison for women. A separate enclosure houses civil debtor convicts as well. It has a quarantine to segregate new entrants till medical examination is completed. The facilities include cells and dormitories with windows, lavatories with doors, meditation hall, library, amphitheatre, auditorium, jail court with video-conferencing facility, mechanised kitchens, high-security blocks with exclusive kitchen and hospital, gym, canteen, public music system, rehabilitation block and separate gallows for men and women prisoners.

Prisoners

The prison became operational since 26 September 2006, and the first batch of prisoners from Chennai Central Prison were transferred on 14 December 2006. The prison has facilities to house 1,251 remand prisoners, 1,250 convicted prisoners and 500 women prisoners.

Notable incidents

* On 2 August 2008, Solomon, a Grade II warder, was arrested by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption on the charge of taking a bribe of 8,000, for providing some facilities to a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n national lodged in the prison in connection with a fake passport case. He was later dismissed from service on 4 August 2008. * On 10 June 2009, notorious criminal "Welding" Kumar was attacked and killed by fellow inmates. * On 18 September 2016, Software techie Swathi murder case accused Ramkumar allegedly killed himself by biting a livewire used in a junction box.

In popular culture

''Unmaking of a Monster:'' A documentary film by

Apsara Reddy Apsara Reddy (born Ajay Reddy) is an Indian transwoman politician and journalist. She was earlier inducted as National Spokesperson of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam by Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. On 8 January 2018, ...

References

External links

Tamil Nadu Prison Department
{{Chennai Topics Prisons in Tamil Nadu Buildings and structures in Chennai Tiruvallur district