HYDERABAD: Is life behind the four walls of a prison as gruelling as depicted in a Hindi movie or is it as colourful as the life of the protagonist played by Sean Connery in the Hollywood flick The Rock? This question can be answered after a visit to the Old Sangareddy jail on the outskirts of Hyderabad, deemed to be the country’s first ever prison museum. The life and history of Telangana prisons will come alive next month with the opening of the 219-year old jail building for public viewing.
The prison which has housed some of the famous and the notorious, was built in 1796 by the then Nizam’s government.The jail building was in use till as recent as 2012 when a new jail was constructed in Kandi and inmates were shifted. Considering the heritage value and the intact nature of the building, the prisons department of the new state has decided to preserve it for future and to promote local culture, history, art and language. “We want to develop the prison into one of the important tourist spots in the district. In the first phase, we will display old handcuffs, weaving machines, telephones, photographs and other available artifacts. An entry fee of `5 will be collected from general public and entry would be free for schoolchildren,’’ said the Director General of Telangana Prisons and Correctional Services Vinoy Kumar Singh. A sum of `20 lakh was spent on transforming the heritage prison into a museum. The department will also open an outlet to sell products being made by jail inmates so as to generate revenue for maintenance.
Spread across 3 acres and 10 guntas, the historic building was built in stone, sand, wood and lime mortar. It has 9 barracks including a separate female barrack, punishment cell, a staff quarters, kitchen, toilets and a watch tower. The initial capacity of the prison was said to be 90 male inmates and 5 female inmates. “In 1947, the prison was under the direct control of district collector and in 1969, it was under the Judiciary and one Ramnath, who was civil surgeon was the superintendent,” said Santhosh Kumar Roy, district sub jail officer, Old District Jail Sangareddy.