As news of Sasikala’s special treatment in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison went viral, prisoners staged a protest in the jail premises, and 32 of them were clandestinely transferred to other prisons.
In response to this, the National Human Rights Commission has taken cognizance of a complaint about the inhuman treatment meted out to the 32 prisoners at Parappana Agrahara Bangalore Central Jail.
According to a press release by the NHRC, the 32 prisoners were beaten black and blue and shifted overnight in the injured condition to various other prisons located in Mysore, Bellary, Belagavi and Davanagere.
According to the complaint, dated July 17, filed by BJP’s Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, Shobha Karandlaje, the family members of these prisoners are not able to meet them.
“The Commission has issued notices to the DGP and IG Prisons, Karnataka to submit a detailed report on the allegations, along with present location and state of health of the injured/shifted prisoners of the Bangalore jail, within four weeks,” the press release says.
It states that NHRC has observed that if the allegations regarding physical torture of the prisoners and their overnight transfer to other jails is true, it raises the serious issue of violation of their Right to Life and Dignity.
“It need not be restated that a prisoner is not a slave of the State and is not denude of all his fundamental rights, while in judicial custody,” the statement said.
Prisoners were allegedly given this inhuman treatment due to their initiative to stage a protest inside the jail premises as they were not allowed to speak to former DIG Roopa, who had visited the jail after her explosive report hit the media.
She had recently brought out information on certain grave irregularities in the prison, of special treatment meted out to VK Sasikala and another high-profile criminal, Abdul Karim Lala Telgi.
The complaint alleges that DIG Roopa’s superiors and prison staff had beaten the prisoners for staging the protest and had transferred them out at around 1 am on July 16.
“The transfer was part of an alleged cover-up operation launched at the facility after DIG Roopa’s report. The Chief Minister has appointed retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar to probe the allegations. He is expected to inspect the facility in the coming days,” Shobha Karandlaje said.