Appeal for prayer venue turned down

The most recent appeal put forward by the five accused in the twin blasts case was to participate in the Bakrid prayers on August 22 along with other inmates at the Central prison at Cherlapally.

The request was turned down by jail officials as it did not comply with norms, and because the five were accused in a terror attack and were to be kept isolation. They were allowed to offer namaz in the high security cells located on the first floor of the prison.

The five were shifted from the Chanchalguda prison to Cherlapally on June 23.

In the nearly 70 days since, the five have sought extra milk, fruits and Unani medicines. The requests were turned down as undertrial prisoners are provided food on par with prisoners and are not allowed any special relaxations. Medicines are given only if prescribed by doctors; the accused had individually prescribed the Unani medicine for themselves. Sources told this newspaper that for the last few days, ahead of the September 4 verdict, the terror accused had shown no remorse. They were spending their time reading books on the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

“The Cherlapally prison houses a library. The accused, mainly Anik Shafique Sayeed, who is well-versed in the English language, sought permission several times to visit the library and picked up books on IPC and CrPC,” a source said.

The terror accused came across as normal prisoners. “There has never been any instance of rebellion. But, a couple of times, the five said they would approach the court when their appeals for extra food was turned down. However, they did not move court,” the source said.

The state has central prisons at Chanchalguda, Cherlapally and Warangal and six district jails. The total number of inmates is 5,400, including about 1,800 lodged at Chanchalguda.