Puzhal Central Prison is a central prison complex located in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

(

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, municip ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

Chennai Central Prison Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was located in Chennai (formerly Madras) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It became operational during the British Raj period. Its prisoners were moved to the newly constructed ...

Construction

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

Puzhal Pulhal or Pullhal is a Northwestern residential town in Chennai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. Pullhal is located on the banks of Pulhal aeri, Pullhal Lake. The town is known for Pulhal Central Pris ...

and in

Maraimalai Nagar Maraimalai Nagar is a municipality town in South Chennai at Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu, India. Lying in the southern part of the Chennai metropolitan area, it is a satellite town of Chennai, the state capital, around 50 km from Do ...

were initially considered, and the final decision to construct at Puzhal 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: Puzhal Prison I for convicts, Puzhal 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

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, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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 S. Swathi was a 24-year-old Indian Infosys employee who was murdered on June 24, 2016, at the Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India while on her way to her office. Swathi was murdered in front of several people, with passenger ...

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.

References

External links

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