Both Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law B Srinivas Reddy have been lodged at the Central Crime Station (CCS) lockup which is 'famous' for bandicoots paying a visit now and then. Sources told Express that in the absence of a cell in the CBI office at Koti, CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana has decided to keep the duo in the CCS lockup. On Tuesday night, Reddys got a taste of the CCS lockup.
After being questioned at the CBI office, both Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy were driven to the CCS where they were put in separate cells. Sources said the dingy cell has a hole dug up in one corner to answer the call of nature. In another corner was a pot of water. Besides bandicoots, mosquitoes also make life miserable for those lodged in the lockup. Both Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy will have to spend the next six nights in the CCS lockup and they will not be provided any bedsheet or matress, sources said.
For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.
Every time I have visited a police station, even the relatively newly constructed ones like in Indiranagar, I have been horrified by the sight of the lock-up, the totally unhygienic conditions prevailing there, as also the inhuman way the prisoners are generally treated. Whatever else, it's a matter of human dignity, and it's time the Human Rights Commissions went into these issues. There is also the question of the prisoners contracting all kinds of infections under such conditions, and even passing them onto the police staff.
Now, while nobody need have much of a sympathy specifically for the Reddy's, hopefully their present plight will bring some focus on this issue, and therewith a change for the better in the whole approach to the issue.
Muralidhar Rao
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They accused Viveknagar police for detaining Chika, 22, for four days and then producing before the magistrate late on Monday night and then remanding him to judicial custody. “The police had ill-treated him and reportedly not provided proper food for four days. Only in Parappana Agrahara jail did prison staff gave him milk and bread around 11pm on Monday. By Tuesday morning, he collapsed and was diagnosed of having had a cardiac arrest. By the time he was brought to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardio-Vascular Sciences and Research, he was declared dead,” they said. Viveknagar police claimed they picked him up from his Ejipura residence at 10pm Monday for allegedly overstaying after his visa expired three months ago.
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
It's the same thing again and again. In the first place, according police clearance for passport renewal, is an organised racket run by the police themselves. On top of that is this inhuman treatment. Police reforms have a long way to go.
Strong anti-corruption law will lead to prison reform
As I mentioned in my article on the Jan Lokpal & Lokayukta Bill, one of the unintended consequences of a stringent anti-corruption law will be prison reform.
A strong anti-corruption law will lead to several "high-profile" persons being jailed. Once this happens, at some point, the attention of the media and other Governmental agencies will invariably be focused on the sorry state of lock-ups and prisons in this country.
Once this happens, hopefully there will be more emphasis on improving the condition of prisons to provide at least a dignified living environment for those lodged there.
Regards
Vijay Padiyar
http://www.vijaypadiyar.in