Kejriwal will remain under 24×7 watch with CCTV cameras
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was sent to Tihar Jail after a court remanded him in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, will remain under 24×7 watch with CCTV cameras in his cell and could watch TV and read books, officials said.
They said that Kejriwal, the first sitting chief minister to be lodged at the Asia’s largest jail, has been kept in jail number 2 and will be allowed home-cooked food as ordered by the court.
Among the books that would be provided to him are the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabhrata, and ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’. He will be also allowed a religious locket that he wears.
Kejriwal has given a list of six people whom he would like to meet as per rules. The list includes his wife Sunita Kejriwal, their son and daughter, his private secretary Bibhav Kumar and AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy, and remained in their custody for 10 days. He was produced in the court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja after his Enforcement Directorate custody came to an end. The ED sought his 15-day judicial custody, saying he was “totally uncooperative”. The court granted the ED plea.
“He was brought to Tihar jail at 4 pm and was taken to jail number 2. He was medically examined and his vitals were checked. Later he was sent to the cell, where he will be staying alone,” a jail official said.
His sugar level was a tad low and medicines have been given to him on the advice of jail doctors, the official said.
Before this, Kejriwal was arrested twice and sent to Tihar Jail: the first was during the 2012 anti-corruption movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare, when he was arrested along with several other protesters and kept in Jail number 1; the second was in a defamation case filed by Nitin Gadkari in 2014 when he was lodged in Jail number 4.
The jail number 2 houses convicts and currently 600 convicts and 50 under trails are lodged in this jail.
Sources said gangsters like underworld don Chhota Rajan, Neeraj Bawana were also in the high security wards of this jail at some point of time.
A CCTV camera is installed in Kejriwal’s cell and he will be under watch 24 hours. A television set has also been provided like the other inmates in their cells and wards, according to jail manuals.
Tihar’s jail number 2 also houses factories and manufacturing units for food products and furniture.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was arrested in October last year in the same case, was earlier lodged in jail number 2 but was shifted to Jail number 5 recently.
Kejriwal’s former deputy Manish Sisodia, who is in jail in connection with the same case, is lodged in Jail number 1, while BRS leader K Kavitha is in Jail number 6 of the women’s jail.
While Kejriwal will be provided home-cooked food, according to jail rules, timings for the tea, food and watching television will be same for him like the other inmates, the officials said.
For an inmate, the morning starts with tea, biscuits and snacks including ‘dalia’ between 7 and 8 am. The lunch either has chapati or rice along with dal and one vegetable, an official said.
He said the wards remain closed between 12 noon and 3 pm. At 4 pm, tea is served again. The official said dinner is served by 7 pm with the same set of food items – dal, rice, chapati and vegetable.
