-Separate room to Anantha Babu illegal: Ramaiah
-DG of prisons should take stern action
AMARAVATI: TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah on Tuesday condemned the alleged ‘VIP treatment’ being given to murder accused and ruling YSRCP MLC Anantha Babu in Rajahmundry Central Jail in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.
Ramaiah urged the Director General of Prisons, AP, to inquire into the collusion of jail officials with the remand accused and take stern action against the guilty.
In a letter to the DG here, the TDP leader said that there were many allegations about the VIP treatment being given to MLC Anantha Udaya Bhaskar alias Anantha Babu. There has been no sanction from the judicial authorities for these facilities.
Ramaiah said that it was wrong to give special treatment to Anantha Babu who was the main accused in the heinous crime of killing his own driver, who was a Scheduled Caste (SC) person. The present remand prisoner has a very bad criminal history and he has tried to hush up the offence.
The TDP leader termed it as ‘very sad’ that the staff and officials of Central Prison, Rajahmundry, welcomed and provided Anantha Babu with all facilities of a star hotel. The judicial officers were said to have not accorded such permissions to the remand prisoner.
Strongly objecting, Ramaiah said: “It is learnt that MLC Anantha Babu has been allocated a separate room against rules. Further, it appears that MLC Anantha Babu is in possession of two cell phones and is regularly communicating with the outside world. Additionally, it is widely believed that a stream of visitors are being unofficially allowed without records to meet MLC Anantha Babu.”
Ramaiah further said that MLC Anantha Babu was reportedly being served star hotel food brought from Rajahmundry town and his prison has become an epicentre for resolving various disputes unofficially in the name of ‘panchayat’. Prisons are meant to discipline and reform the criminals and it is very important to ensure that the remand prisoners are kept under constant watch.
The TDP leader urged the DG to conduct an inquiry into the status of MLC Anantha Babu in Rajahmundry Central Prison and take stringent action against the erring officials of the prison for providing such facilities without the specific orders of judicial authorities.
