KOCHI: The prisons department on Thursday launched an inquiry into the allegation that businessman Boby Chemmanur was given special privileges at the District Jail in Kakkanad.
Following the direction of the director general of Prison and Correctional Services, Balram Kumar Upadhyay, DIG of Prisons (Headquarters) M K Vinod Kumar is conducting the inquiry.
Vinod on Thursday visited the District Jail in Kakkanad as part of the inquiry. He spoke to the jail superintendent and other officials as part of the inquiry. He also checked CCTV camera footage.
The allegation is that DIG of Prison (Central zone) P Ajayakumar on January 10 visited the jail and met Boby. It is alleged that three friends of Bobby also accompanied the officer. Their names were not recorded in the visitor’s register. Also, the visitors were allowed to interact with Boby privately.
Following the allegation, Ajayakumar submitted his response to Balram on Wednesday. According to him, he reached the jail as part of an inquiry into a complaint. He knew Boby and interacted with him in the presence of the jail superintendent at his room. He only checked about the health condition of Boby.
Earlier, the state Special Branch had collected information about the incident at the jail. Later, a report was filed to ADGP Intelligence. There are reports that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spoke to Balram after the allegations surfaced.