SANGAREDDY : Kerala jeweller Boby Chemmanur said he would bring football legend Diego Maradona — the brand ambassador of Chemmanur Group jewellery showrooms — to the Sangareddy jail museum.
“I will promote the Sangareddy jail museum. If needed, I will also make a special programme. Maradona will visit Kerala soon. I will bring him here in order to provide him a chance to have a first-hand experience of prison life. Then, I will again spend another day in the Sangareddy jail along with Maradona,” the businessman told media.
Earlier, the tycoon who owns a chain of jewellery showrooms across South India and Middle East had stayed behind the bars by taking part in the “Feel the Jail” programme at Sangareddy.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.
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. 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 public, recently.
Boby had arrived with his two friends to the Sangareddy Central Prison. He had told the media that he was 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,” the businessman said.
His friends — social activist Asheer Ali, yoga teacher Prashant and Vinoy — had accompanied him to the jail. “All rules applicable to prisoners will hold good for you too,” Boby quoted the jail superintendent Santosh Rai as saying. “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.” Last month, two tourists from Malaysia had come wanting to experience the jail life. The district central jail was constructed in 1796 during the Nizam rule in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad.