Deported gangster Abu Salem yesterday tested positive for Plasmodium vivax malaria, but refused to get admitted to theprison ward of the state-run JJ Hospital and demanded a separate room. When the treating doctor refused, Salem decided to go back to the jail where he fell sick rather than remain in the care of JJ Hospital.

Lodged in the high-security cell of the Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai since over two years, Salem was brought to JJ Hospital for tests after he complained of fever and shivering. His case has now raised serious concerns about the hygiene and condition of prisons in and near the city as well as in the rest of the state.