Security Risk Flagged After Delhi Ex Minister Seeks Company In Jail
A superintendent of Delhi’s Tihar prison has been issued a notice for moving two prisoners to the cell of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister, Satyendar Jain, after he cited “loneliness”.
Satyendar Jain, who has been in the high-security jail following his arrest last year, had in a letter on May 11 requested the prison administration to lodge him with more inmates.
Mr Jain had cited depression due to loneliness and the need for more social interactions in his letter – which he said was adviced by a doctor.
“I am feeling depressed and low because of loneliness. A psychiatrist suggested me for more social interactions and he requested to lodge him with at least two more persons,” he wrote, requesting the company of at least two more people.
He also mentioned two names in the letter.
Two prisoners were then moved to the former minister’s cell by the Superintendent of jail no 7.
Prison officials said they were immediately shifted back to their respective cells after the administration came to know about it.
They said the decision was taken by the Superintendent without discussing the matter with the jail administration.
The move has also raised security concern.
“Action has been initiated against the Superintendent of Jail No 7 for transferring two prisoners to the cell of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain who requested to lodge him with at least two inmates citing depression and need for more social interactions. Inmates were immediately transferred back,” said an official.
Last year, a prison official was suspended for alleged VIP treatment to the former minister.
Action was taken after the Enforcement Directorate submitted CCTV footage to a court, alleging that Mr Jain was enjoying a luxurious lifestyle in jail and influencing investigations by regularly meeting the co-accused in the case.
In the video, Satyendar Jain was seen getting a massage by a man inside his cell, and chatting with other inmates, none of which is allowed inside the prison. He was also seen eating fruit salad, bringing his complaint on food quality in jail under question.
Another video clip showed Mr Jain relaxing in his bed when he is visited by three people in casual clothing.
His party explained the massages as physiotherapy and said that home-cooked meals had been cleared by doctors and courts.
The former minister was arrested on May 30 last year, by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe agency had initiated the money-laundering investigation in the case on the basis of a First Information Report or FIR registered by the CBI on August 24, 2017.