August 03, 2007	Friday	Rajab 18, 1428

MUMBAI, Aug 2: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is not receiving special treatment in a packed, high-security prison, officials said, after starting a six-year sentence this week over deadly bomb blasts in Mumbai.

Like other inmates in the Mumbai jail, the actor had no fan, pillow or bedsheet in his cell and was living on a basic diet that included pulses and rice, authorities said.

Despite Dutt's severe change of lifestyle, his lawyer said that the hugely popular entertainer was coping well.

Dutt is “doing good, that's all I will say,” lawyer Satish Maneshinde said after visiting him on Wednesday at the Arthur Road Jail.

The actor was jailed for possessing illegal weapons, a sentence on Tuesday that sent shockwaves through the song-and-dance film industry, long accused of links to Mumbai's criminal underworld.

Dutt was convicted last year but was cleared of the more serious charge of conspiracy in connection with the 1993 “Black Friday” attacks, which killed 257 people and injured at least 800 others.

Dutt was the highest-profile figure connected to the case, and the sentence wrapped up more than a decade of legal proceedings that have resulted in 100 convictions.

Bollywood's original “bad boy,” known for his tough guy roles, started his term like most other inmates at Arthur Road which was built to house 800 inmates but is now believed to hold nearly 3,000.

“There's no special treatment, his day started today like that of any other inmate,” the jail official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, a source at the jail said Dutt had been allowed to take a luxury toiletries kit and some American brand cigarettes with him.

His routine involves being woken at 5:00 am for prayers, followed by counting of the inmates by the guards, the official said.

A breakfast of sweetened tea, biscuits and bread is followed by an early lunch which can include rotis, aubergine, pulses and rice, the official said.

Dutt, now clad in prison clothes, has been housed in barrack No 1 along with Yusuf Nulwalla, a long-time friend who destroyed weapons on Dutt's instructions in 1993. He shared his bathroom with eight other prisoners.

Dutt has always maintained his innocence, arguing that he had bought a Kalashnikov assault rifle to protect his family from sectarian violence.

However, Judge Pramod Kode in sentencing on Tuesday said: “Acquiring a weapon of this nature suggests the character of the person, and is contrary to the law.” His lawyers plan to challenge the penalty before India's Supreme Court.

The son of a politically prominent Hindu father and a Muslim mother honoured for her acting, Dutt has taken on screen roles as gangsters and anti-heroes, and has had an off-screen life wracked by drug abuse and two failed marriages.—AFP