SANGAREDDY: The long-cherished “dream” of Kerala’s flamboyant businessman and jeweller Boby Chemmanur to be a jailbird brought him to Sangareddy District of Telangana.
The young tycoon who owns a chain of jewellery showrooms across South India and Middle East donned the robes of a convict and stayed behind the bars by taking part in the “Feel the Jail” programme.
The programme was started by the Telangana Prisons department for people who want first-hand experience of jail life at the cost of `500 a day.
Boby Chemmanur came along with two of his friends to the Sangareddy Central Prison, the 220-year-old Colonial era jail that was recently converted into a museum. Speaking to the media, Boby said he had been curious about jail life for the past 15 years and wanted to experience the same. “I know many police officials in Kerala and have expressed my desire to them on many occasions to help me experience the jail life for a day. However, they told me it was possible only if I committed a crime. Recently, I read a report in a newspaper about this programme at the Sangareddy old jail and immediately made my plans,” he said. Three of his friends, social activist Asheer Ali, yoga teacher Prashant and Vinoy, accompanied him to the jail.
“All rules applicable to prisoners will hold good for you too,” Boby quoted the jail superintendent Santosh Rai as having said. “We were also told to maintain discipline and that we will be served the same food given to prisoners and cell phones weren’t allowed.” The prisons department is glad about the reach of their programme with high-profile visitors. Last month, two tourists from Malaysia had come wanting to experience the jail life.
The district central jail was constructed in 1796 during Nizam rule in the princely state of Hyderabad.
The heritage jail is spread over three acres of land and the building occupies more than one acre. There are nine barracks in the male wing and one in the female wing. After using this ancient facility for over 216 years, a new jail was constructed nearby and the inmates were shifted to the premises in 2012. The old jail was later converted into a museum and thrown open to the public, recently.
Further, the heritage jail museum is all set to provide Kerala type of Ayurvedic massage to patients, who are suffering from various health issues, by setting up an Ayurvedic Clinic in its premises. Authorities have allotted two rooms for setting up of a massage centre and clinic.