Bengaluru: Editor of 'Hai Bangalore' Ravi Belagere is cooling his heels at the Parappana Agrahara central jail after the First ACMM court remanded him to judicial custody on Monday. Belagere, who has been accused of giving a supari to kill his colleague Sunil Heggaravalli, will be lodged in the prison hospital.
As Belagere's police custody ended on Monday, the CCB police, who are investigating the case, first took him to Victoria Hospital for a medical check-up and then to the magistrate. The CCB police did not appeal for the extension of his custody, and the Magistrate, Jagadish, remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days, till December 23.
Diwakar, the advocate representing Belagere, said that he had given a 100-page report to the court, explaining the health condition of Belagere and the number of operations he had undergone. "I also cited the case of businessman Rajan Pillai, who died in jail in 1995 due to bad health. The court considered our request and directed that my client be given proper medical attention and treatment," he said, adding that he will move the bail petition in a day or two before a sessions court.
After the remand, the CCB police took Belagere to the central prison in a jeep and entered the jail premises around 1.30 pm. Prison officials, as per procedure, admitted him with an Under Trial Prisoner number 12785. As it was already lunch time, he was given food and Belagere reportedly ate ragi balls.
Later, he was taken to 'Sanjeevini', the hospital inside the prison, and was admitted. He reportedly slept around 4.30 pm and woke up after three hours. As Belagere is diabetic, the prison doctors are constantly monitoring his health. "Only if the doctors recommend that he needs treatment from a hospital with better facilities, he will be shifted to Victoria or some other hospital," a prison official said.
It is learnt that the prison officials have provided a convict prisoner to help Belagere, who is very weak. He has reportedly requested the officials to allow home food for him but they have not decided on it. A senior prison department official is said to have directed the staff that Belagere should be treated like any other inmate and extra care should be taken to ensure that he does not get access to a mobile phone.
Belagere's daughter Chetana, son Karna and some of his friends were there outside the prison till late evening. They said that they were confident that the court would grant him bail.
First time in jail: Though he is facing many cases, this is the first time journalist Ravi Belagere has landed in jail. Though there were efforts to put him behind bars in connection with the resolution passed by the Assembly, Belagere had evaded arrest by moving the High Court. However, he could not escape jail in the 'supari' case.
CCB officials could not put up with Belagere: It is learnt that Belagere, during his police custody, did not give any important information to the CCB officials. They were said to be fed up with his reluctance to cooperate with the interrogators, his tantrums for cigarettes and advice about procedures to be followed with an accused. Knowing that Belagere is a hard nut to crack, the CCB police reportedly decided not to request the court for extension of his custody.
Yashomathy takes to Facebook to support Belagere
The second wife of Ravi Belagere, Yashomathy, around whom the entire 'contract killing' saga allegedly revolves, has finally spoken in support of her husband on a social media platform.
Expressing shock, Yashomathy took to Facebook on Monday and asserted that she was confident that Belagere would emerge clean from the testing time and that prayers of the entire family were with him.
But she has not said anything about the rumours that Sunil Heggaravalli was seeing her which allegedly made Belagere furious and prompted him to allegedly give a murder contract to Shashidhar Mundevadi to eliminate Heggaravalli.
The translation of Yashomathy's Facebook post:
I was flipping through birthday pictures of Himavanth (Belagere and Yashomathy's son) to send the best ones to Ravi when I received calls from my family members, who asked me to switch on news channels. When I turned the TV on, the first thing I heard was my name, but I did not know why. Himavanth had to be picked up, so I rushed to his school. News bulletins continued with the same report for a long time. I couldn't get any answers, as the police had confiscated all the phones…
My mother, sister, brother and friends sent messages, asking me to be brave. Hima told me, "Amma, don't be scared and face everything that comes your way."
Suspicion, insults, allegations followed me like my shadow. TV channels are giving their own colour without accurate information and seem to be taking revenge. For some, it's entertainment, for some anxiety. For some curiosity, for some suspicion …
Ravi said, "Don't think of anything. Nothing will happen to me," while leaving the house. Those words and his smile fill our home. I and Himu expect the same.
