Sasikala footage old, taken inside jail: Jail sources

Bengaluru: Earlier reports based on CCTV footage from Central Jail, Bangalore, raised questions over whether prison authorities had allowed prisoners, V.K. Sasikala, and her aide, Ilavarasi, to leave the jail premises. But jail sources told this newspaper that the footage was old and recorded by a camera inside the prison.

The prison has a main gate through which outsiders enter the prison office area. But there is another gate called the ‘B’ gate, which grants access to the office area from within. Any prisoner who needs to go to the office needs to enter from ‘B’ gate. The video shows the inmates entering the office from the ‘B’ gate, and not from outside the prison.

It is speculated that some persons with vested interests are misusing the clip and deliberately distorting facts.

The footage leaked and circulated on July 18 showed Sasikala and Ilavarasi violating jail rules by not wearing convicts’ uniform and led to the transfer of DG (prisons) H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao and prison superintendent Krishna Kumar who allegedly gave Sasikala and her relative, better facilities.

The CCTV cameras had been installed to check the activities at the entry gate of the women prisoners barrack, and it captured on camera, Sasikala leaving the women’s barrack and walking to “B” gate through Outer Circle road, to the interview room.

The footage released now is nothing but a continuation of the earlier and far more damaging footage that had shown the five rooms that the two convicts were allowed to use. This footage shows Sasikala and Ilavarasi being escorted by a prison woman officer to meet some visitors.

The prison has a main gate through which outsiders enter the prison office area. But there is another gate called the ‘B’ gate, which grants access from within. Any prisoner who needs to go to the prison office for a lawyer interview or to meet officials needs to enter from ‘B’ gate.

The video shows the inmates entering the office from the ‘B’ Gate, and not from outside the prison.

It is speculated that some persons with vested interests are misusing the clip and deliberately distorting facts.

The gate opens out into a road that leads to the kitchen and this road is called the M. G. Road within the premises.

The video shows the inmates entering the office from the ‘B’ Gate, that is from the inside of the prison, and not from outside the prison.

All offices are guarded by prison guards and staffed by prison inmates.

It is speculated that some persons with vested interests are misusing the clip and deliberately distorting facts.

The footage submitted by DIG Roopa D. to the Anti-Corruption Bureau is being vetted as part of an ongoing investigation into the goings-on inside Parapanna Agrahara where inmates like Abdul Karim Telgi too were allegedly given special privileges. Retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar, tasked to submit a report in a few weeks, has asked for an additional week’s time to hand over his findings.