Bengaluru: The clash between Deputy Inspector General (DIG) D. Roopa Moudgil and Director General (Prisons) H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao has turned murkier.
Just hours after retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar, who is heading a high-level inquiry into the controversy, visited the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, 32 prisoners, who reportedly passed on information about illegal activities inside the prison to Ms Moudgil, were shifted to Ballari and Belagavi jails on Saturday night in complete secrecy.
Twenty-one inmates were shifted to Ballari Central Jail, and 11 others to Hindalga Jail in Belagavi, it is learnt.
The move, coming at a time when the government has ordered the inquiry into controversial claims of irregularities and preferential treatments to VIP inmates inside the Bengaluru jail, only raises suspicion of a cover-up.
Interestingly, one of the prisoners, Ramamurthy, who was allegedly beaten up by Jail Superintendent Krishna Kumar on Saturday for “leaking information to Ms Moudgil”, is also among those shifted out of Parappana Agrahara.
The prisoners were shifted without informing Ms Moudgil, who is the DIG of the prisons, and the decision is said to have been taken by Mr Rao and Mr Krishna Kumar.
Ms Moudgil had claimed in her report that jailed AIADMK leader V. Sasikala and stamp paper scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi were given all the luxuries inside their cell. n Turn to Page 3
She had also alleged that Mr Sathyanarayana Rao received '2 crore as kickbacks to extend special treatment to Ms Sasikala. Sources said that all the shifted prisoners were part of the grievance meeting held by Ms Moudgil. The prisoners reportedly shared their problems with Ms Moudgil when she visited the jail on Saturday. It is learnt that they were beaten up for their whistleblower act before being shifted. The sources said that the prisoners told the Ms Moudgil that they were unhappy with the way Mr Krishna Kumar was dealing with them. Though shifting of prisoners to other jails is common, the timing has raised questions. Deccan Chronicle tried to contact both Mr Rao and Mr Krishna Kumar, but they were not available for comments.
