COIMBATORE: Ten days after a convict serving life imprisonment died in the Coimbatore Central Prison, another life convict has alleged a threat to his life. He made this claim while speaking to his lawyer on a video call, pointing fingers at four prisoners and the prison superintendent. The prison department is investigating his claims.
According to sources in the prison, R Vikram (29) of Thattaparai village in Thoothukudi was arrested in a murder case on June 24, 2016, and was sentenced to double life imprisonment in 2017. He went on an appeal in the Madras High Court, which confirmed double life imprisonment in December 2021. In July 2022, he was shifted to Coimbatore from the Palayamkottai Central Prison.
Tamil Nadu Prison Department allows prisoners to speak with their family and counsel through video call under the surveillance of the prison authorities. Recently, Vikram spoke to his lawyer and said he faced threat to life. “A fellow prisoner was murdered recently and I am the next target. If anything happens to my life, prison warders Kirubakaran, Sathish, Balu, Mohanran and the prison Superintendent would be the reason for that,” he said.
The video call was recorded by the advocate and shared with his family members. On Friday, they posted the video online.
Coimbatore Central Prison authorities said a prisoner is allowed 120 minutes of video call per month. “We suspect the prisoner made the call when the warders were not around and passed on false information. He was not harassed by anyone inside the prison. We will lodge a police complaint against Vikram and his lawyer,” said Superintendent Senthil Kumar.
Four prison officers were placed under suspension after P Jesudass (33), a life convict, was found dead inside a toilet on January 27.