The IPL fever has not only gripped Bengal, but has also sneaked inside the prison bars. Hundreds of inmates of Bengal’s highest-security prison, Alipur Central Jail, went on a hungerstrike on Sunday demanding that they be allowed to watch the Indian Premier League matches on television inside the jail premises.

Last night, over 500 inmates had demanded the installation of cable television inside the prison premises but the jail authorities told them there was a ban on showing private television channels in the jail. At present, the inmates are allowed to watch only Doordarshan.

Angry inmates then threatened that they would on a hungerstrike if cable TV was not installed in the jail by morning. The prisoners insisted on watching the opening match of Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

A delegation of the undertrials met Superintendent of the correctional home, Kumaresh Roy, on Sunday and put forward their demand again. Kumar reportedly told the delegation that no correctional home in the state is allowed to have the cable television network.

After Roy turned down their demand, inmates refused the lunch and staged a demonstration inside the jail. Nearly 500 inmates started raising slogans and the protest continued for hours.

Apprehending a jailbreak amid the commotion, the Alipur jail authorities stepped up the security and informed top officers, including Additional Director-General (Prisons) B D Sharma.

The jail houses notorious gangster and mastermind behind the American Center attack Aftab Ansari, his associates and other dreaded criminals.

There are 2,095 inmates in the jail, said an officer. “Inmates refused to take their lunch and shouted slogans. Some of them cheered the Kolkata Knight Riders. We are trying to pacify them,” said an officer. Sharma said: “The prisoners asked for private channels. We cannot install a cable connection for security reasons.”