Refuting allegations of receiving bribe of Rs. 2 crore from AIADMK General Secretary and convict VK Sasikala Natarajan for VIP treatment at Parappana Agrahara central prison in Bengaluru, Karnataka Director General of Prisons (DGP) Satyanarayana Rao on Wednesday said the allegations are absolutely false and baseless.
Rao said there is no truth in the allegations levelled against him by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) (Prisons) D Roopa in the report.
"If she had some doubts, she should have first come to me and talk about it. Instead, she went to the media and showed everything. Whatever she has written in the letter is false," Rao was quoted as saying by a news agency.
“No special treatment was given to Sasikala and no special kitchen was provided,” he added.
Regarding the Rs. 2 crore bribe allegation, he said let alone amount, they have not even given any relaxation in the laws of visitation.
"We have not made any changes to who can go and meet. No relaxation in the laws at all," he clarified.
"I only gave her authorisation to visit the jail. Had I had anything to hide, I would not have allowed her," he added.
In a shocking revelation, Roopa in a report has claimed that Rs. 2 crore was given to prison officials as a bribe to provide VIP treatment for AIADMK general secretary V Sasikala at Parappana Agrahara central prison in Bengaluru.
The report comes amid rife speculations that Sasikala is receiving VIP treatment at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison where she is lodged in a corruption case.
"As a reward for bribing the prison authorities from Rao to jail warden, Sasikala gets special menu daily, cooked by special chefs in a special kitchen near the women's cell," Roopa is said to have mentioned in the report.
Alleging massive irregularities and rampant corruption in the central jail on the city's southern outskirts, Roopa said drugs were being distributed to the inmates through various means and select prisoners were given special facilities.
"At least 18 of the 25 prisoners who were tested for taking drugs reported positive. From DGP to jail warden are involved in flouting the prison manual," alleged Roopa in the report.
According to reports, on February 15 this year, Sasikala was sent to jail after she surrendered before a trial court in Karnataka. On February 14, Supreme Court had restored her conviction in the two-decades-old disproportionate assets case.
(With inputs from agencies)