Mumbai, February 05: She is a granny — frail and old. But even that does not stop Gangubai Kshirsagar, 70, arrested in a drugs case, to boss over almost every other prisoner in the Byculla prison.
Kshirsagar was arrested by the Anti-Narcotic Cell (ANC) of the
Mumbai police for allegedly possessing 40kgs of marijuana and has been behind bars for a month. According to senior jail officers, Kshirsagar’s behaviour has been “arrogant” and “difficult”. Soon, she is becoming the “don” of the prison.
The exit of high-profile jailbirds like Zaheera Shaikh of BEST bakery fame and Rubina, underworld don Chhota Shakeel’s girlfriend, Kshirsagar is soon gaining the tag of being the “jail boss”.
Soon after she was brought in, she would not adhere to jail rules, including standing in queue to take lunch. “She would throw tantrums and also influence other inmates,” said a senior jail officer, on condition of anonymity. “Initially, we took it easy because she is old. Soon, we had to crack the whip,” he added.
Sources said Kshirsagar began mingling with other NDPS accused, 18 in all, and began to discuss tricks of the trade. Alert jail officers spotted this and soon isolated her.
Police investigations have revealed that Kshirsagar is a key peddler in Central Mumbai. During sustained interrogation, she told the police that she got the contraband delivered to her by drug suppliers operating in neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
She even travelled across Maharashtra to touch base with other suppliers and suck in more peddlers into her gang. Police officials said Kshirsagar is tight-lipped and has not passed on critical links in the drug-chain in Mumbai.
“She is very stubborn and shrewd. She has not revealed much and we are tying to get more details,” a senior ANC official said on condition of anonymity.
—-Agencies