DIG (Prisons) D. Roopa of Karnataka has submitted a report to the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG-IGP) R.K. Dutta, accusing her senior colleagues of accepting a ₹2 crore bribe from AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala in return for preferential treatment at the Parappana Agrahara Central prison in Bengaluru.
In the report submitted on Wednesday, she accused DG (Prisons) H.S. Sathyanarayana Rao and his staff of accepting the bribe. The report also alleged that the jail staff had accepted bribes from Ms. Sasikala for allowing the installation of a makeshift kitchen in her cell and being provided with an inmate as a cook.
According to sources, copies of the report have been submitted to the Home Secretary and the Anti Corruption Bureau.
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Onus is on her: Rao
Mr. Rao, in a reply, said, “Let the officer concerned investigate. The onus is on her to prove the allegations... I had visited the prison and inspected it, and found no such irregularities or corrupt practices.”
He had some time ago issued two memos to Ms. Roopa, and claimed that she had submitted the report to counter his memos. The first memo was for procedural lapses and the second for not attending the Chief Minister’s meeting with senior police officers at the police headquarters last Monday.
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When contacted, Ms. Roopa refused to discuss the report, a copy of which is available with The Hindu . It also alleges gross negligence by officers, with inmates being given charge of the medical record room and pharmacy.
Key points of Roopa's report
1. On July 10, based on reports that drugs were being used by inmates in the prison, she conducted a test using a drug test kit on 25 inmates and 18 tested positive. A majority had consumed ganja while the others used barbiturates and benzodiazepine. Though she filed a report with Chief Superintendent of Prisons Krishnakumar to prevent the supply of drugs, no action has been taken.
2. The medical record room, which contains the files of all inmates, is supposed to be supervised by wardens appointed by the government. However, inmates have been put in charge. As a result, many medical records, which were supposed to be submitted to courts, were missing.
3. An inmate had misbehaved with a woman nurse during a medical check-up. Though a complaint was filed, no action was taken. Inmates force doctors to issue reports in their favour with recommendations that they be hospitalised, and threaten doctors if they do not comply.
4. The prison authorities have put inmates in charge of the pharmacy. As a result, drugs that are supposed to be issued to patients with mental disabilities are being grossly misused.