Madras Central Prison
A section of the Madras Central Prison before demolition in 2009
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| Location | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
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| Coordinates | 13°04′47″N 80°16′22″E / 13.07974°N 80.272915°E |
| Status | Demolished |
| Opened | 1837 |
| Closed | 2009 |
Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was located in Chennai (formerly Madras) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began operational during the British rule in India in 1837. Prisoners from the prison were moved to the newly constructed Puzhal Central Prison starting in 2006. The prison was 172 years old when it was demolished in June 2009.
Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was started during British rule in 1837. It was initially called the Madras penitentiary until 1855 when it was renamed to Central Jail. It was originally built to house transit convicts who were to face the 'sazaye kaala paani' in Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and constructed at the cost of Rs 16,496 on 11 acres (45,000 m2) of land.
It is said that the call for independence found its echo more in the Madras Presidency than elsewhere in the princely States. Many of those freedom fighters were arrested and lodged here; it is said a few of them died in custody.
There were 1,778 prisoners in the prison as of January 2002, of which 500 required to be produced in different courts in Chennai and mofussil (rural) areas including Tiruchi, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.
The prison housed Subhas Chandra Bose and Veer Savarkar during the days of independence movement. C. N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of Dravidian Movement was housed here for his Anti Hindi agitations. The prison also housed former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi and chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalitha. Also, several international figures, including LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and Maoist leader of Nepal, Chandra Prakash Gajurel, were imprisoned here.
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