Bengaluru: Former IAS officer Vinay Kumar, who is inquiring into the alleged corruption and irregularities in the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara, has requested the government for an extension of 15 days to complete the inquiry. Official sources told this newspaper that the government has agreed to his request to extend the deadline from August 17 to end of this month.
Kumar was required to submit the report on Thursday, exactly a month after he took over the inquiry on July 17. The government had approached Kumar to inquire into the allegations, which were made by the former DIG, Prisons D. Roopa against some prison officials and her boss – the former DG&IG, Prisons H.N.S. Rao, who has since retired.
Roopa had alleged that the jailed AIADMK (Amma) general secretary V.K. Sasikala was being given VIP treatment such as a five-cell occupancy, private kitchen and unlimited number of visitors in the prison in return for a '2 crore bribe to some unknown prison officials, including Rao.
She had also cited prevalence of drugs and preferential treatment to the fake stamp paper kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi among other irregularities in the prison. In her report Roopa had mentioned that Rao’s name was doing the rounds in the '2 crore bribery scam and that he should clear the air on it. The DIG had assumed office on June 23 after a long leave of six months and had visited the prison on July 12.
She had submitted the report to Rao the same evening. He had forwarded the report to the government along with his reply to her allegations the next day. The government had warned Rao and Roopa against speaking to the media and had transferred them out of the department.
While Kumar is examining the allegations made in Roopa’s report, he is not been asked to investigate the Rs 2 crore bribe allegation.
