In the eye of the storm: The charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch said that the trouble at Byculla prison started at around 9 a.m. on June 23 when Manjula Shette found the rations in short supply. more-in Mumbai: The special women’s court will pass an order on the bail applications of three Byculla jail staffers on November 28 in connection with the alleged custodial death of Manjula Shette. Arguing for Bindu Naikode, Waseema Shaikh, and Surekha Gurdev, advocate Vaibhav Bagade said on Wednesday that all the injury marks on the victim’s body appeared to be inflicted post her death. “It is unbelievable that a jail inmate would be killed over two missing eggs and pav. Had there been an issue that the accused had with the victim, senior officers whose offices are next to the accused staffers’ cabin would have noticed something.” Opposing the bail pleas, Vidya Kasle, the prosecutor, said they should be rejected on the ground that it is a case of protector turning predator. She told the court that the accused had created such a terror that Shette, who had been serving her sentence in Yerwada jail for a case of murder, and was transferred to Byculla, had applied to be sent to Yerwada jail. Pointing the statement of another Byculla inmate, Ms. Kasle said the accused had been planning to beat up Shette for a few days. She also said that the egg and pav issue was only a pretext to beat her up. “They knew that CCTV cameras are not inside the barrack. So they took her there to beat her up for almost half an hour.” Mr. Bagade had earlier said that jail inmates had cooked up a story about Shette’s death, and that she died of a prolonged illness and not due to an assault. He had said that she was being treated for tuberculosis, and the injuries, which are being pointed out by the prosecution, cannot cause her death. The defence had previously withdrawn the bail applications of three — jailor Manisha Pokharkar and guards Sheetal Shegaonkar and Arti Shingane — of the six accused. The charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch said that the trouble at Byculla prison started at around 9 a.m. on June 23, when Shette found the rations in short supply.

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