In new video, inmates clean Jain’s jail cell
NEW DELHI: A new video appearing to show people cleaning the cell of jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and then making his bed was widely circulated on social media on Sunday, further intensifying the row over “VIP facilities” being provided to the Aam Aadmi Party leader in Tihar jail.
The latest video is purportedly from September 13, 15 and October 1, and people can be seen sweeping the floor of Jain’s jail cell and making his bed. In a separate set of visuals dated September 12, Jain was seen interacting with other people inside his jail cell.
Sharpening his attack on the AAP, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of converting Tihar jail into a “5-star resort with room service”.
Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla hit out at the party’s government in Delhi and said that this is the evidence of “khaas aadmi” (spe
cial person) treatment to the “corrupt minister”.
“After providing maalish (massage) from a child rapist and a 5-course meal, now this video shows how AAP is providing room service and housekeeping inside Tihar to Satyendar Jain. Inside the Tihar, there is Satyendar Jain ka Darbar. From watching TV to drinking mineral water, to all kinds of services being provided. This is evidence of the ‘khaas aadmi’ treatment given to corrupt ministers who are not getting bail from courts for the last 5 months,” he said.
Poonawalla further demanded the immediate sacking of the jailed minister.
“Will Kejriwal still defend such a person or apologise to the country for this VVIP facility provided to a corrupt minister?” he added.
This is ostensibly the fourth CCTV footage that has emerged relating to Jain.
The first purported visuals, which appeared on November 19, showed the minister getting head and foot massages.
The second purported footage surfaced on November 23, a day after Jain’s counsel told a trial court that the minister had lost 28 kgs since his arrest. In the footage, Jain was seen having an elaborate home-cooked meal. Interestingly, people familiar with the matter said that the minister gained 8 kgs instead.
In the third purported footage that came out on November 26, the minister was seen having a conversation with some people, including currently suspended Tihar superintendent Ajit Kumar.
On November 14, Kumar was suspended as Tihar superintendent for circumventing rules and giving special facilities to Jain. Until his suspension, Kumar was the head of Jail 7, where Jain is lodged. Others who assisted Kumar were also suspended, while 28 jail officers were transferred, according to officials.
Until his arrest in the ED case, Jain, Delhi’s former health minister, also held the prisons portfolio. Kejriwal on Saturday said the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections had become a contest between “10 videos of the BJP and 10 tasks performed by the Kejriwal government”. The people will respond on December 4, he said in an apparent reference to the string of videos featuring Jain.
The MCD elections will be held on December 4 and the results will be declared on December 7.
A Delhi court, meanwhile, on Saturday said the AAP minister was prime facie being given “preferential treatment” inside Tihar jail in violation of rules, which has now been stopped. Special judge Vikas Dhull made the observation while dismissing Jain’s plea, which sought direction to Tihar officials to provide him special food items according to his religious beliefs.
Jain has filed a petition in a court, accusing ED of leaking CCTV footage. He has also requested the court to direct the agency to stop leaking videos of his stay in the prison.
Last month, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) sought a report from Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar regarding allegations that Jain was availing “special treatment” inside the jail in connivance with jail authorities. The home ministry sought the report after ED informed a Delhi court that Jain was living a “luxurious lifestyle” with facilities such as face, head and foot massages, fruits and salads as well as meeting his family members and witnesses of the case in which he has been arrested.
ED arrested Jain in May under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The central agency’s probe is based on a 2017 case of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in which the AAP leader and his wife Poonam Jain are accused of amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.47 crore between February 2015 and May 2017.
Jain has denied the allegations, and the AAP has described the CBI and ED action as “political vendetta”.