Preferential treatment: VK Sasikala got cell, bed, cook in prison, confirms probe

During the investigation, the ACB prima facie found that Rao was not guilty.
VK Sasikala. (File photo |EPS)
VK Sasikala. (File photo |EPS)

BENGALURU: The probe conducted by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) revealed that the then Superintendents of Central Prisons in Bengaluru, Krishna Kumar and Dr R Anitha, facilitated preferential treatment to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala and her sister in law J Ilavarasi, while they were serving their sentence in the prison in a multi-crore disproportionate assets case.
Interestingly, the then DGP of Prisons, IPS officer H N Sathyanarayana Rao was not found guilty.

The state government had appointed former IAS officer Vinay Kumar as Inquiry Officer after receiving a complaint over giving preferential treatment to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala at Central Prison. Accepting the report submitted by Kumar, the government ordered the ACB to register a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and conduct a probe into the allegations that Rs 2 crore was taken by Sathyanarayana Rao to continue the preferential treatment for Sasikala. Accordingly, the ACB had registered the crime in 2018.

During the investigation, the ACB prima facie found that Rao was not guilty. Hence, the ACB sought sanction from the state government to prosecute Krishna Kumar, accused no 1, presently serving Chief Superintendent of the Central Prison in Belagavi, and Dr R Anitha, accused no 2, presently serving as Deputy Director, Karnataka Prisons Academy, Bengaluru, under the provisions of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

In response, state government sought clarifications from the ACB into the allegations against the accused officials. The ACB disclosed its probe findings that Krishna Kumar issued an official order to favour them. Though there was no directions from the Intelligence Department about any life threat to Sasikala, Anitha was appointed exclusively to provide security to her.

Sasikala was kept independently from other convicts and provided a women’s section with five cells. Convicts were also allowed to prepare food for her. A cot and bed was provided to her in addition to ensuring more time than specified for her visitors. Though Krishna Kumar was aware of all these special privileges, he neither reported this to higher officials nor to the government.

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