Room No. 13, Cell No. III.

Inmates of Alipore jail woke up to a different dawn on Friday, as Dhananjoy Chatterjee slept in the confines of his 10 ftX6 ft cell.

For the first time in the past few weeks, the 42-year-old inmate of the condemned cell had overslept — well past the second morning bell — to wake up to a new lease of life.

The man, who usually stayed up all night — dozing off only towards dawn —was sleeping when jail officials turned up on Friday. A detailed interrogation later revealed that Dhananjoy had taken a sleeping pill the night before. “He had asked the jail doctor for a pill. He probably wanted to sleep properly after days,” claimed an insider.

Within the four walls of his cell, Dhananjoy often did things that caught the attention of fellow-inmates and wardens. Some of them would speak to him occasionally.

Jail officials said they were taken aback on Thursday when a buoyant Dhananjoy told them he was confident of a stay order. “Towards late afternoon, he explained how he was sure of a reprieve, even as efforts were underway for his hanging. He told us how he knew for sure that he would not go to the gallows,” said a jail official.

The confidence was evident even in his actions. During a visit by a senior jail officer, insiders were struck to find Dhananjoy clean-shaven. Set to be hanged around 30 metres away from his cell, the rapist and murderer of a teenaged schoolgirl had kept away from the razor for the past three days. With the countdown on, he even refused food and clung only to the FM radio that he had been allowed.

Only on Thursday did he decide to eat what was supposed to have been his last lunch. The anxiety over towards late in the afternoon, he calmed down.

On Friday, however, Dhananjoy didn’t shy away from his daily ration. He ate the food, prescribed by the doctor — a thali sans mirch masala — and throughout the morning, he kept pestering officials about the developments outside.

The jail administration, on its part, stuck to its arrangements. “We have decided to let things be as they are. In case the stay is lifted, we can carry out the hanging without much readjustment,” said Joydeb Chakraborty, inspector-general (prisons). Scheduled to visit Dhananjoy later in the evening, Chakraborty didn’t turn up. Instead, he issued orders to stick to the special arrangements.

What this means is simple. Even as Dhananjoy enjoys the programmes on his FM set and pops pills for another round of sound sleep, four jail employees will be posted outside his cell, keeping a watch on him round the clock, waiting for the final verdict.