Mumbai:
Eight hundred forty two prisoners languishing in Taloja Jail, including underworld don Abu Salem and gangster Arun Gawli, will be able to get a ball-by-ball account of the World Cup final today, courtesy a considerate prison administration.
The jail authorities have decided to relay radio commentary of the match into the inmates' cells using the public address system.
Asked why prisoners were not being allowed to watch the match on television, SM Chaware, superintendent, Taloja Jail, said, "It is not that the prisoners are not allowed to watch TV, but there is a satellite reception problem in the jail. Watching the match would be impossible even if we had TV sets installed in the cells."
"The prisoners will, however, get to listen to the commentary of the eagerly awaited showdown. We had made the same arrangement for the semi-final between India and Pakistan."
Taloja Jail has four cells in which the prisoners are housed. Around eight are serving life sentences, while the rest are serving shorter prison terms for theft, extortion and other crimes.
Salem and Gawli have been housed in a special high-security (oval) cell. Salem was taken to Taloja from the Arthur Road Prison in July last year, while Gawli has been languishing there for the past two years.