Former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who has been in judicial custody at Arthur Road prison for the last six months after his arrest in an alleged money-laundering case, has not met family members who visit him in jail, since July.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader has not met with his lawyers either and tries to stay aloof at the prison by not participating in in-house activities like routine exercises and games, said prison sources.
Sources further said that the only person he interacts with is his nephew and and co-inmate Sameer Bhujbal, who was arrested in the same case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March this year. Sameer allegedly passes on Chhagan Bhujbal’s instructions and views to the family and the lawyers. Chhagan Bhujbal has also stopped reading newspapers. He had demanded some novels to read during his initial days in prison but with the passing of days has stopped reading or demanding more novels, sources said.
Bhujbal and Sameer have been given a special barrack in the jail. However, sources said that Chhagan Bhujbal prefers having a proper diet that includes home-cooked food in the afternoon and evening, in addition to breakfast provided by the jail authorities in the morning.
A source said, “Chhagan Bhujbal met his family only twice after he was kept in judicial custody. Later he refused to meet anyone in jail. He only met them in the court. Sameer is the one who passes his uncle’s messages to their lawyer and family members when they come to meet the senior Bhujbal in the jail. His routine starts at 7 am. Jail authorities wake up everyone at 6 am but considering Bhujbal’s age, no-one forces him to wake up on time. Bhujbal doesn’t eat breakfast in the morning, he just has biscuits or snacks during breakfast and then gets lunch and dinner from home. But due to some limitation on having junk food Sameer and Chhagan Bhujbal have lost weight.”
