5 murder accused want transfer to Thane prison

Now suspended Thane Jail superintendent Hiralal Jadhav

Five accused, arrested in the murder of Navi Mumbai realtor Sunil Lahoria, who are in Taloja jail, have written an application, demanding to be transferred to Thane Central Jail, instead. The five - Venkatesh Shettiar, Wajid Qureshi, former encounter specialist Emmanuel Amolik, Kailash Ghumane and Francis Chawri - wrote the letter on August 23 to Taloja jail superintendent, higher jail authorities and the court.

The reasons stated were that Taloja does not have enough personnel to escort them to court, delaying hearing, and relatives cannot make the long trek to meet them. Jail officials trashed the inmates' claims, saying they want a transfer only to enjoy a good life inside Thane jail, which was until recently under superintendent Hiralal Jadhav. He was suspended last week in a sexual assault case. Their dreams of a transfer were shattered following Jadhav's suspension.

mid-day had reported in May about Jadhav giving inmates five-star treatment. The letter sent by a whistleblower to the CM said Jadhav took a bribe of R10 lakh from Suresh Bijlani, accused of murdering Lahoria, when he was out on bail for his son's wedding. When Bijlani returned, he allegedly began paying Jadhav R5 lakh a month. Gangster Vishwanath Maranna Shetty paid R3 lakh, and Anurag Garg, another accused in the Lahoria murder, R25 lakh.

On Tuesday, Bijlani was transferred to Arthur Road jail following mid-day's report that he was having good time under Jadhav's protection.