Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India’s Most Famous

220 Pages·2017·1.43 MB·English

by  Sunetra Choudhury

BEHIND
BARS
OTHER LOTUS TITLES
Ajit Bhattacharjea Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah: Tragic Hero of Kashmir
Anil Dharker Icons: Men & Women Who Shaped Today’s India
Aitzaz Ahsan The Indus Saga: The Making of Pakistan
Ajay Mansingh Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain & Ecstasy
Alam Srinivas & IPL: The Inside Story
TR Vivek
Alam Srinivas Women of Vision: Nine Business Leaders in Conversation
Amarinder Singh The Last Sunset: The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar
Bertil Falk Feroze: The Forgotten Gandhi
Hamish Mcdonald Ambani & Sons
Kingshuk Nag The Namo Story: A Political Life
Kunal Purandare Ramakant Achrekar: A Biography
Lucy Peck Delhi a Thousand Years of Building: An INTACH-Roli Guide
Madan Gopal My Life and Times: Munshi Premchand
M.J. Akbar Byline
M.J. Akbar Blood Brothers: A Family Saga
Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle
Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo The Sinking of INS Khukri: What Happened in 1971
Madhu Trehan Tehelka as Metaphor
Monisha Rajesh Around India in 80 Trains
Noorul Hasan Meena Kumari: The Poet
Peter Church Added Value: The Life Stories of Indian Business Leaders
Peter Church Profiles in Enterprise: Inspiring Stories of Indian Business Leaders
Rajika Bhandari The Raj on the Move: Story of the Dak Bungalow
Ralph Russell The Famous Ghalib: The Sound of my Moving Pen
R.V. Smith Delhi: Unknown Tales of a City
Salman Akthar The Book of Emotions
Sharmishta Gooptu Bengali Cinema: An Other Nation
Shrabani Basu Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
S. Hussain Zaidi Dongri to Dubai
Shantanu Guha Ray MAHI: The Story of India’s Most Successful Captain
Shrabani Basu Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
Sunil Raman &
Sunil Raman &
Delhi Durbar: 1911 The Complete Story
Rohit Aggarwal
Thomas Weber Going Native: Gandhi’s Relationship with Western Women
Thomas Weber Gandhi at First Sight
Vir Sanghvi Men of Steel: India’s Business Leaders in Candid Conversation
FORTHCOMING TITLES
Shahrayar Khan Bhopal Vignettes
Aruna Roy The RTI Story: From Gramsabha to Loksabha
BEHIND
BARS
PRISON TALES OF
INDIA’S MOST FAMOUS
SUNETRA CHOUDHURY
ROLI BOOKS
This digital edition published in 2017
First published in 2017 by
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for
Neel & Sudeep
CONTENTS
Introduction
1. The Four Days that Changed Amar Singh
2. The American Mallu who Survived Jail
3. The Tandoor Murderer
4. The Platinum Blonde who Wore LV in Jail
5. The Terrorist’s Bride
6. The Raja who was Banished
7. The Hipster Juvenile who Went to Jail
8. The CEO in Jail
9. Wahid and the Different Shades of Torture
10. Somnath Bharti & the Attack of Don
11. The Gangrape of a Trans Bar Dancer in Custody
12. From Purnea Jail to Tihar
13. Waiting for Justice at 70
Appendix
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
It was sometime in early 2016 that I got a call from an undisclosed number. The
woman on the other end of the line had a foreign accent and when she told me
her name was Anca, it took me only a couple of seconds to figure out who she
was. I was a little confused because the last I heard about Anca Neascu Verma
was that she was in jail for various CBI cases along with her husband, Abhishek.
‘Oh, you are now...,’ I asked. ‘Yes, I am now outside,’ she finished what I was
trying to say, and I could sense her smiling. This sense of humour warmed me a
bit, though I was intrigued because while I had reported on CBI and a few of
cases that involved her and her husband, I had not shown any particular interest
in cases which were more obsessively followed by defence beat reporters. I had
never spoken to either of them but I was in touch with their lawyers for legal
developments. So when she suggested we meet at Hyatt one afternoon, I thought
it was perhaps some lead to a story, so I agreed. I wasn’t really sure what I was
going to gain from it but the fact that she sought me out soon after coming out of
prison, had me curious.
‘I’m feeling so good because I just went to the spa after so long,’ she
declared when she saw me. She looked almost six feet tall and was striking with
her blonde hair and a fitted designer dress. ‘I tell people that I was away to the
ashram. That’s what I call my four years in jail – ashram.’ I was fascinated to
say the least. I guessed she had called me to make a case for her husband who
was still in jail at the time. I knew she wanted me to perhaps do stories on what
had happened to CBI’s investigation after so many years, but what we ended up
talking about was her time in jail. I have done stories on jail experiences
throughout my career, but never before had I got this kind of insight into prison
life.
Anca was rich, beautiful, a Romanian married to an influential Indian
businessman who was forever being chased by law authorities, and she was now
sitting outside jail, literally cooling her pedicured heels and willing to dish the
dirt on what goes on inside. Till now we only had an inkling of what may be
happening inside through sporadic news headlines – Mohammad Shahabuddin
being caught taking selfies with his phone inside prison, the Punjab jailbreaks