Yerwada jail in Pune is better suited to keep Salman Khan: Police

MUMBAI: In a huge relief to Salman Khan, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to the actor. Earlier in the day, Salman was convicted by a sessions court and he risked being sent to prison if his bail plea was rejected. Police say that among many jails in the state, Yerawada jail in Pune is better suited to keep the actor. Once Additional Sessions Court Judge DW Deshpande held Salman guilty and ordered five-year rigorous imprisonment, the process to take him to jail took over. Even as his advocates rushed to the Bombay High Court to seek bail for the actor, police officials registered his fingerprints.

According to police, the superstar would have been taken to Arthur Road Jail first if the bail was denied. “Arthur Road Jail cannot be used for housing convicts. Only under trials are kept there. However, Khan would have been housed there for a few hours or days till a decision was taken to house him in some other jail,”a police officer said.

The official said that while Khan could be kept imprisoned at the jail in Thane or Taloja, the state government would prefer if he is housed at the Yerawada prison in Pune, owing to security reasons.

“Taloja jail has a number of gangsters being kept there, which would be a security threat for the actor. Thane jail is not spacious. The Yerawada prison is better suited for keeping Salman,” said another police officer, adding that even actor Sanjay Dutt, who has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for illegal possession of arms, has been kept at the Yerawada facility.

Once inside a prison, Khan would have to wear prisoner's clothes and would have to choose a job within the jail. He is supposed to get the same food that other inmates eat.