Ranchi: Lodged in a prison built in memory of legendary freedom fighter Birsa Munda, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is cooling his heels while waiting for his sentence in the very famous fodder scam case. Lalu, who is the new inmate of the prison turning out to be a virtual second home for tainted politicians and officials in Jharkhand, is being treated with reverence inside the jail. For the Prisoner Number 3312, an upper division cell with a TV, two cooks, a munificent supply of fresh vegetables, rice, mutton/chicken or fish, ghee, and seasonal fruits and the option of getting food from outside, are just some of the entitlements, says a newspaper. The inmates lodged in the upper division get 350 grams of rice, 117 gram dal, 233 gram of vegetables, 233 grams of potatoes separately, 467 gram milk or curd for vegetarians, 175 gram of fish or meat, 29 gram ghee, 117 gram sugar and fruits,” IG (Prison) Sailendra Bhushan said yesterday.
Everybody visiting him is bringing him delicacies from top restaurants. Lalu is taking a bite from every packet – from ‘sattu roti and baigan chokha’ to a la carte,” the newspaper quoted a visitor as saying. Lalu Prasad is known for relishing ‘sattu’ and he can have the food though it is not in the jail manual. As per the jail manual, specific food items are provided for the inmates lodged in the upper division. And if an upper division inmate desires to get food from outside, he can get it with the permission of the jail superintendent,” Bhushan said. Sattu’, a powder made of gram, is not among the food items mentioned in the jail manual, he said. As per the manual, upper division inmates get a cot, a mosquito-net, television, blanket, bed, pillow, pillow cover, shirt, a pair socks and pyjama.
“If any inmate of the upper division desired to cook his own food, two convicted prisoners would be provided to help him prepare the meal,” the IG said. They can also get bedding, clothes, magazines and books from outside with permission of jail superintendent. A proposal has been there much earlier for getting cable TV connection in the jail, but nothing has been decided on it as yet,” Assistant Inspector General of Police Deepak Vidyarthi said when asked whether the inmates could watch private channels besides the DD network. Only central or state ministers and former or sitting legislatures are entitled to upper division facilities. In this case, Prasad, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, sitting MP Jagdish Sharma and former minister RK Rana would be the upper division inmates among the 45 convicted persons, the IG said.
Bureau Report
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