6 Largest Indian Jails

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced plans to shift Tihar Jail -- the largest jail in South Asia -- to the city's outskirts.
Which are India's other large prison complexes?

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, as per 2022 stats, India has 1,330 prison establishments: 148 central jails, 428 district jails, 574 sub-jails, 34 women's jails, 91 open jails (minimum security), 10 Borstal schools (youth reformation centres), 42 special jails (maximum security).

British-built Cellular Jail, Port Blair, completed in 1906, now a museum, is one of the oldest Indian jails.
But the British were using the Andaman islands -- Kala Pani -- as convict settlements since 1857-1858; the Ross Island penal colony being one of the first.
Other early jails: Agra Jail, Alipore Jail (now a museum), demolished Madras Central Jail (1837), Goa's Fort Aguada (1612, a musuem), Kozhikode Jail.

Tihar Jail, Delhi
Established in 1957, the largest prison in South Asia, at 400 acres, capacity 5,200.
Political prisoners: Jayaprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, George Fernandes, Sanjay Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, P Chidambaram, Arvind Kejriwal.
Infamous inmates: Charles Sobhraj, Chhota Rajan, Lawrence Bishnoi.

Yerawada Central Jail, Pune
Spanning 500 acres, built by the British in 1871, India's second-largest jail.
Famous prisoners: Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, who began writing The Story of My Experiments with Truth here, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Actor Sanjay Dutt was imprisoned here and terrorist Ajmal Kasab hanged.

Naini Central Jail, Prayagraj
India's third largest jail (237 acres), established in 1869, with a capacity of about 3,000.
Famous prisoners: Motilal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai.
Jawaharlal Nehru wrote letters to daughter Indira from a cell here that eventually became Glimpses of World History.

Puzhal Central Prison, Chennai
Operational since September 2006, a 212 acre prison complex designed to house 1,251 remand prisoners, 1,250 convicts, 500 women prisoners.
Notable inmate: J Jayalalithaa (Prisoner No 7402, in VVIP cell 23).

Rajahmundry Central Jail, Rajamahendravaram
A 17th century Dutch fort was converted into a jail in 1864; upgraded to a central prison in 1870, it occupies 196 acres in eastern Andhra Pradesh.
Famous prisoners: Freedom fighters Bulusu Sambamurthy, Adavi Bapiraju, Vavilala Gopalakrishnayya, N G Ranga. Also, N Chandrababu Naidu.

Vellore Central Jail, Vellore
Established in 1830, it is Tamil Nadu's second largest prison.
Famous prisoners: Deposed Sinhala king Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, freedom fighters C Rajagopalachari, K Kamaraj, V V Giri, Vinoba Bhave, R Venkataraman, DMK Founder C N Annadurai, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati.