With several high-profile politicians cooling their heels at Coimbatore central prison, the jail complex is attracting a steady flow of visitors.
Prison officials claimed that with over 600 people visiting daily, the city jail drew more crowd than the Coimbatore zoo or other attractions in the city.
“The number of visitors has almost doubled ever since the political bigwigs were lodged in the prison. More than 400 persons queue up, on a daily basis, seeking permission to meet the high-profile DMK leaders in the prison. As the crowd is steadily growing with every passing day, it has become really unmanageable for us,” said a prison source.
Of the 600-plus visitors, more than 200 are sent back due to lack of time as only three visitors can be allowed to meet a prisoner at a time, for half-an-hour.
From morning to noon, the DMK bigwigs, including former minister Veerapandi Arumugam, meet party cadres in the prison.
Besides former Minister Veerapandi Arumugam, other crowd-pullers in the jail include N.K.K.P. Raja, Chepauk MLA J. Anbhazhagan and Erode mayor Kumar Murugesh.
All the four have been put up in a big room, like a dormitory, They are kept segregated from other prisoners to avoid any tension, according to prison officials.
“Their main complaint is that they cannot sleep well due to tormenting mosquitoes besides unclean surroundings,” said former minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy.