In a new revelation, CCTV camera footage accessed from the Bengaluru Jail, where former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s aide Sasikala Natarajan is currently housed, shows her walking into the prison in civilian clothes, flouting jail norms reserved for convicts.
Sasikala has been convicted in the disproportionate assets case and carries a sentence of four-years’ jail term. However, in the video, she could be seen walking into the jail from the gate with Illavarasi, her aide, both dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a bag each.
According to The Hindu, the video was submitted by former DIG Prisons D Roopa, who exposed the preferential treatment given to Sasikala in jail, to the ACB. Roopa has now been shifted to the Traffic and Safety wing after she exposed the scam.
The video also shows a male guard escorting the two convicts in, which is a clear step away from protocol. Speaking to The Hindu, Roopa said,
Male guards are not allowed inside the women’s prison complex. Their deployment is outside the women’s prison premises at the main gate… it has to be investigated where she (Sasikala) is coming from and who permitted it.
The IPS officer also alleged that the footage proves that Sasikala had gone out of the jail premises, even though no parole was given to her.
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