VELLORE: Two of the convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Murugan and his wife, have been observing fast in his high-security cell in the Vellore Central Prison to protest against locking up Murugan into solitary confinement, sources said.
Murugan was moved to solitary confinement last week after the prison authorities allegedly seized a cellphone from his possession. Since then, he has been observing fast and Nalini resorted to fasting in support of him on Saturday.
“The prison authorities moved Murugan to solitary confinement last Saturday. For four days, he was locked up within the cell without allowing him to move out. He was also denied basic amenities in the prison,” said advocate P Pugalenthi, after meeting Murugan in the prison.
He alleged that Murugan has been subjected to torture in the prison and a top official of the prison is behind it.
The cellphone seizure was a planned move from the side of the official to malign him at a time when the chorus for premature release of the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case becomes louder, Pugalenthi pointed out.
“Murugan has written a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on the torture he is being subjected to in the prison. The prison officials did not allow him to hand a copy of it to me when I visited him,” the advocate said.
In support of Murugan, his wife Nalini resorted to fast at the Special Prison for Women in Vellore from Saturday, he informed.
The couple has spent more than twenty-five years behind the bars.
Appealing the Chief Minister to intervene on the issue to save Murugan, Pugalenthi said everything was done in a preplanned manner at the instance of the top officer of the prison.
The officer had even said at a meeting of her subordinates to let Murugan die in the prison if he continues with fast, he stated.
Prison officials were not available for comments. Prisons DIG, Vellore, K Jayabharathi did not respond to repeated phone calls.
It may be noted that there was hue and cry in Tamil Nadu recently with major political parties calling for immediate action for the premature release of the seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case following reports saying that Governor Banwarilal Purohit had suggested his unwillingness to order for the release of the seven by accepting a Cabinet resolution.