Poha, girlfriends and prison breaks: Jaipur jail scandal leaves officials red-faced; 13 arrested
Jaipur (PTI): What was supposed to be a routine hospital visit for five inmates from the Jaipur Central Jail turned into an impromptu city tour with poha breakfasts, hotel stays, and reunions with wives and girlfriends.
A total of 13 people, including five constables, four inmates and four relatives, were arrested on Sunday after it came to the fore that the inmates had allegedly paid bribes to enjoy a few hours of freedom outside the jail, the police said on Monday.
The four inmates, Rafiq Bakri, Bhanwar Lal, Ankit Bansal, and Karan Gupta, had allegedly secured approvals for medical checkups at the SMS Hospital.
But instead of heading to their appointments, they allegedly bribed their way for a leisurely day out in the city, and only one prisoner made it to the hospital, the police said.
None of the four returned to the jail by the 5.30 pm deadline on Saturday.
"This outing was arranged for around Rs 25,000, routed through a middleman. The escorting constables were promised Rs 5,000 each," said a senior officer involved in the investigation.
Rafiq and Bhanwar met their wife and ex-girlfriend, respectively, at a Jalupura hotel, where Rafiq's wife was later found with narcotics and was booked under the NDPS Act, DCP (East) Tejaswani Gautam said.
Ankit and Karan were tracked to a hotel near the airport, where they were seen having poha for breakfast. The room was booked by Ankit's girlfriend.
Later, the police detained Karan's relative carrying Rs 45,000 in cash at one of the hotels, along with several inmate ID cards.
Jail sources said that the outing was masterminded by a convicted extortionist still operating from inside the prison.
Investigators say that over 200 phone calls intercepted since April reveal a deeper network of bribes, unauthorised mobile use, and alleged threats to VIPs, including Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma.
A case has been registered at the Sawai Man Singh Police Station, and an investigation and search has been initiated in the Jaipur Central Jail, the police stated.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
