Lalu leaves for New Delhi to undergo treatment at AIIMS
RANCHI: Permission for shifting was issued last night to the jail superintendent by competent authority. HARSH MANGLA , Jharkhand’s inspector general (prison)
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday left for New Delhi to undergo treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) following a recommendation by a medical board set up here for the 70-year-old ailing politician.
Prasad, along with few members of his party, took the Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on Wednesday evening. He had earlier requested the jail authorities to arrange for air travel and also expressed willingness to pay for the same.
“Permission for shifting was issued last night to the jail superintendent by competent authority,” Jharkhand’s inspector general (prison) Harsh Mangla said on Wednesday,
Prasad, who was lodged in Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi on December 23 after his conviction in a case related to the so-called fodder scam in Bihar dating back to the 1990s, was admitted to the cardiology wing of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on March 17 after he complained of discomfort. Prasad has a history of cardiac ailments. In August 2014, he underwent two major heart surgeries — one to replace an aortic valve and the other to repair the aorta at the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. He has since been under medication.
At RIMS he underwent surgery for a condition called perianal abscess this month and was under observation because he suffers from hypertension and diabetes, and his creatinine (a chemical waste molecule) level was high.
The RJD chief, sources said, refused to take insulin injections in the Ranchi hospital claiming that his doctor at the AIIMS had advised him against it.
“He is stable now, but needs to be in a place which has advanced medical facilities. We have received confirmation from the jail about his shifting to AIIMS,” said RK Srivastava, director, RIMS. Prasad is likely to undergo treatment at AIIMS for about three months, a RIMS official said on condition of anonymity. A CBI court on December 23 convicted Prasad in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹89 lakh from the Deoghar treasury from 1991 to 1994. Lalu was sent to jail from Ranchi’s district court on the same day. A month later, he was convicted in another fodder scam case and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
On March 19, he was convicted in a third fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹3.76 crore from Dumka treasury and sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.