PM pays tribute to martyrs at Cellular Jail

PORT BLAIR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the Cellular Jail here and paid homage to those who were exiled and hanged as political prisoners in colonial India.

On reaching the jail premises, Modi laid a wreath at the Martyr's Column before proceeding towards a cell, where Hindutva idealogue Veer Savarkar spent his days in captivity.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a political leader and practitioner of Hindu philosophy, was imprisoned by the Britishers and moved to the Cellular Jail in 1911.

The prime minister sat down on the floor of the cell, in front of Veer Savarkar's photograph, with his eyes closed and hands folded for some time.

After stepping out of the cell, he went to the central tower of the prison, and stopped before a marble plaque, where names of jail inmates are inscribed.

Modi also visited the gallows, where there were arrangements to hang three prisoners at one go. After taking a tour of the museum at the prison complex, he signed the visitor's book.

The Cellular Jail, also known as Kala Pani, was constructed between 1896 and 1906.

The prison is known to have housed many leaders, including Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, Yogendra Shukla, Batukeshwar Dutt and Sachindra Nath Sanyal, during freedom struggle. The jail had special provisions for solitary confinement of the prisoners.