Hindalga jail official denies any ill-treatment or complication
Ananth Murthy, one of the three convicts shifted from Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru to Belagavi allegedly for leaking some information to DIG D. Roopa, said he was sick and sought a doctor on Wednesday morning.
He complained of pain in the lower abdomen and difficulty in urinating. A doctor at the Hindalga jail tested him and said there was nothing wrong with him. “The prisoner was obviously faking the illness,’’ said T.P. Shesha, chief superintendent. “He is fit and fine. There is nothing wrong with him.”
Ananth Murthy, Balu and ‘Long’ Babu were shifted from Bengaluru to Belagavi after they allegedly leaked information to Ms. Roopa during her visit to the jail. However, there was an unconfirmed report that jail officials took an inmate to a private clinic in the morning and shifted him back to the jail after he was treated.
This follows fears that the prisoner’s illness was a result of the beating he got in the Bengaluru jail. “Ananth Murthy was allegedly kicked on the groin by a prison official. This led to some complication in his urinary tract and he says he is unable to urinate now,’’ prison sources said.
Mr. Shesha has however denied that the prisoners were beaten up. “There has been no attack on them by officials either in Bengaluru or Belagavi. I read in the papers that the National Human Rights Commission has written a letter to the Prison department seeking information on such allegations. No such communication has been received in Hindalga. If there were to be a NHRC inquiry or a visit by its officials to Belagavi, we will cooperate with them,’’ Mr. Shesha said.
Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, ADGP Prisons N.S. Meghrik has acknowledged the receipt of a notice by NHRC. He said it would be replied to. He also visited the Parappana Agrahara jail on Wednesday.
A video grab showed that the prisoners shifted from Bengaluru were limping while climbing down the van and entering the Hindalga jail.