 A section of the Madras Central Prison before demolition in 2009 | |
 Interactive map of Madras Central Prison | |
| Location | Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 13°04′47″N80°16′22″E / 13.07974°N 80.272915°E /13.07974; 80.272915 |
| Status | Demolished |
| Opened | 1837 |
| Closed | 2009 |
Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was located inChennai (formerly Madras) in theIndian state ofTamil Nadu. It became operational during theBritish Raj period. The prisoners held there were moved to the newly constructedPuzhal Central Prison starting in 2006, with the 172-year-old prison being demolished in June 2009.[1]
Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was started duringBritish rule in 1837. It was initially called the Madras penitentiary until 1855 when it was renamed to Central Jail.[2] It was originally built to house transit convicts who were to face the 'sazay-e-kaala paani' inCellular Jail inAndaman and Nicobar Islands and constructed at the cost of Rs 16,496 on 11 acres (45,000 m2) of land.[3]
It is said that the call for independence found its echo more in theMadras Presidency than elsewhere in theprincely States. Many of those freedom fighters were arrested and lodged here; it is said a few of them died in custody.[4]
There were 1,778 prisoners in the prison as of January 2002, of which 500 required to be produced in different courts in Chennai and mofussil (rural) areas including Tiruchi, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.[5]
The prison housedSubhas Chandra Bose during the days of independence movement.C. N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader ofDravidian Movement was housed here for hisAnti Hindi agitations.[4] The prison also housed formerChief Minister of Tamil Nadu,M. Karunanidhi and chief minister of Tamil NaduJ. Jayalalithaa during the trial involving corruption cases.[6] Also, several international figures, includingLTTE chiefVelupillai Prabhakaran,Maoist leader of Nepal,Chandra Prakash Gajurel were imprisoned here.[4]
In 1999, some of the inmates rioted following the death of an inmate namedBoxer Vadivelu. They set fire to a room where the assistant warden had taken refuge. Riot police were called in to contain the riots; the police initially used tear gas to quell the rioters, before resorting to live ammunition. In the battle which ensued between the inmates and the riot police, 10 people, including a prison official, were killed, while more than 100 people were injured.[7]
The Madras Central prisoners were relocated toPuzhal Central Prison inPuzhal in 2006 and the vacant property was handed over toChennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) for revenue augmentation purpose in 2008. The cost of the 13-acre (53,000 m2) land was estimated conservatively at Rs. 4.75 billion.[8] Demolition of the buildings began on 14 June 2009.[9]
In 2010, a new campus with a six-storeyed building for Madras Medical College was built on a land covering 325,000 sq ft on the prison premises and was completed in 2012 at a cost of₹ 566.3 million. The campus will have nearly 1,250 students and 400 faculty and staff members.[10]
