Around 200 women inmates, including prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case Indrani Mukerjea, have been booked for rioting and other offences following the death of a woman convict inside Byculla jail.
Manju Govind Shette (45), a convict, died at the government-run J J Hospital on Friday night after allegedly being beaten up by a woman prison official.
Subsequently, six jail staffers were placed under suspension and police registered a case under IPC section 302 (punishment for murder) against them on Sunday.
Following Shette's death, over 200 women inmates of the jail were up in arms since Saturday morning.
Some inmates on Saturday climbed atop the roof of the jail while newspapers were torched inside, a police official earlier said.
The inmates alleged that Shette was beaten up by a woman prison official. They wanted to present the issue before the media which is not permissible under prison rules, he said.
Zonal DCP Akhilesh Singh said that four to five women inmates, including Mukerjea, were at the forefront in the protests.
A media report cited jail officials saying that Indrani urged women prisoners to use their children to shield themselves from jail officials on Saturday, when the riot broke out.
Indrani, who is lodged in the Byculla prison, is among the 200 inmates against whom a case was yesterday registered for rioting, unlawful assembly, assault on public servant and other relevant sections under the Indian Penal Code, a police official said today.
The jail houses around 251 women prisoners.
Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and ex-driver Shyamvar Rai are accused of strangling 24-year-old Sheena - Indrani's daughter from a previous relationship - on April 24, 2012.
Sheena's burnt body was dumped in a bag at a forest in Raigad district near Mumbai.
