Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday clarified that he has not instructed former Director General of Police (Prisons) H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao to provide cot, mattress and pillow to AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala who is jailed in Parappana Agrahara prison here.
“Mr. Rao’s statement is a lie”, the Chief Minister told presspersons here.
A delegation of AIADMK called on him complaining that basic facilities were not provided to their leader Sasikala in the prison. He told Mr. Rao to provide facilities to the leader as per the jail manual.
“Mr. Rao has levelled baseless charges against me,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has been investigating alleged irregularities in the jail, the CM said.
In a damning revelation, Mr Rao has told an inquiry committee that a cot, mattress and pillow were provided to Sasikala on the instructions of Mr. Siddaramaiah.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has defended the State government’s gesture to Sasikala and said the facilities were provided in accordance with the advice of the doctor.
“There is a 100-bed hospital on the jail premises. Sasikala had health issues and the decision to provide her the bed and pillow was on medical advice,” Mr. Reddy told reporters here at the party office.
However, he declined to reply to a question whether the Chief Minister was authorised to issue such instructions.
