DIG (Prisons) D Roopa and (right) DGP (Prisons) H N Sathyanarayana Rao.
The state BJP on Saturday sought a judicial enquiry by a high court judge into the affairs of prisons in the state.
Former deputy chief minister R Ashoka said in Bengaluru that prisons in the state had become “dens of corruption” with the backing of the ruling Congress. In Hubballi, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar told reporters that the government had no control over the administration.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Ashoka charged that drugs and liquor were available at Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara and inmates regularly indulged in “rave parties”. “If the government has nothing to hide, let it order a judicial enquiry into the functioning of prisons,” he said.
Ashoka, a former home minister, said the government is trying to hush up corruption by the central prison authorities by ordering a probe by a retired IAS officer.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the probe following charges of irregularities in the prison, including preferential treatment to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala. DIG (Prisons) D Roopa submitted a report on corruption in the prison stating that there were rumours about exchange of Rs 2 crore with prison authorities to provide special services to Sasikala, a convict in a disproportionate assets case.
“What Roopa has submitted to the government is not a complaint but a report. But the government has slapped a notice on the officer for exposing corruption in the prison,” Ashoka said and charged that CCTV cameras at the visitors’ gate at the central prison had been deliberately turned off citing technical reasons.
Ashoka said the Karnataka police department, which once was held in high esteem, had lost its reputation. He said Congress leaders penalised police officers if they did not follow their instructions.
Shettar in Hubballi said the administrative machinery had “collapsed” because of the chief minister’s “helplessness and negligence”. He demanded a judicial probe into allegations of corruption in the Bengaluru prison and feared that an investigation by a retired IAS officer would get buried at the government level.
Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi also demanded a probe by the CBI or a retired judge of the high court into the allegations.