All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief VK Sasikala paid Rs 2 crore in bribe to senior police officers for preferential treatment at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru, a prison report has claimed, according to NDTV. The report was prepared by Karnataka Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) D Roopa.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered an inquiry into the matter. “We have taken serious cognisance of the allegation of irregularities at the Bengaluru central prison and ordered a high-level inquiry,” he said on Twitter.
Roopa, who had joined the jail department only a few weeks ago, had inspected the prison on July 10. In her report, she accused her senior, DG (Prisons) HS Sathyanarayana Rao, of providing Sasikala with special facilities such as deputing inmates to cook food for her in a special kitchen set up for her.
The report has been submitted to the Karnataka government, additional chief secretary (Home), the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the state inspector general of police and Rao himself.
Roopa also told Rao that the allegations of his involvement were unfortunate. “Guilty officers should be punished,” she said, according to NDTV.
Rao, however, rejected the allegations, claiming that Roopa had submitted the report after he issued two memos against her demanding an explanation for her past conduct, The Hindu reported.
“Let the official concerned investigate the matter,” he said. “The onus is on Ms Roopa to prove the charges.”
Sasikala was convicted in February in an illegal assets case and sentenced to four years in jail.
Other allegations
In the report, Roopa has alleged that the special treatment was also extended to Abdul Karim Telgi, who was convicted in a multi-crore stamp paper scam. Six months ago, a court had allowed Telgi to have helpers in his barrack because of health reasons, which Roopa said should have been withdrawn after he was declared fit.
Four undertrials are believed to have been deputed in his barrack to serve him, Bangalore Mirror reported.
Moreover, the officer’s report claimed that 18 of the 25 prisoners tested positive for drugs on July 10, The Times of India reported. She alleged that no action was initiated in the incident where an inmate had tried to attack a prison hospital doctor, while another had tried to manhandle a nurse.
She accused senior police officers of refraining from taking action against those violating prison norms. “I request you to act immediately and punish people breaking the rules,” her letter to Rao read.
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