“The jail has been attacked by Maoists. People are dying! An inmate whispered into the cell phone, his voice shaking, “I’m hiding in the toilet.” Gunshots reverberated in the distance.
He was phoning from a jail in Jehanabad, which at the time was a hotbed of radical left-wing politics and a destitute neighborhood.
The prison was bursting at the seams, a red-brick, colonial-era structure. Its thirteen cells and barracks, strewn over an acre, were called “dark, damp, and filthy” in official records. Originally intended to house about 230 inmates, it could accommodate up to 800.
The Maoist insurgency started in the West Bengal state hamlet of Naxalbari.
The Naxalites, or guerrillas, have been fighting the Indian government for almost 60 years in an attempt to create a communist society. At least 40,000 people have died in this conflict.
Maoists and vigilantes from upper caste Hindu private armies, who were their class adversaries, were housed at the Jehanabad prison, which resembled a powder keg. A trial for mutual atrocities was awaited by all. Certain prisoners in this Indian jail got access to cell phones, which they obtained by buying off the guards.
There are so many rebels in this place. Many are simply walking out,” the detainee—one of the 659 prisoners at the time—muttered to Mr. Singh.
