Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara vows action over prison irregularities
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said the government has taken serious note of reports about illegal activities in state prisons and warned that such lapses will not be tolerated.
The minister's statement comes amidst public outrage following recent media reports, which include videos purportedly showing inmates having access to banned items like ganja, liquor, mobile phones, and television inside their barracks at Bengaluru Central Prison.
“Media has reported illegal activities in the jails in the state. We have taken it very seriously. Government will not tolerate it at any cost,” he told reporters ahead of a review meeting.
Holding the prison authorities accountable, Parameshwara said, “All the officers concerned and the head of the prisons are responsible. After making them in charge of the prisons, it is their duty to manage it properly.”
Listing the violations reported, the Minister said ganja, liquor, and different kinds of activities take place. The person in-charge should be held accountable for it.
Parameshwara said the department has received various inputs and would review all the information before deciding the next course of action.
Parameshwara added that the CM has expressed grave concern over the matter.
“The CM has given instructions to take it seriously and initiate action mercilessly,” he said.
Regarding the high-level meeting, he said he had called the Director General of Police, the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), and the superintendents of major prisons to discuss the issue.
“We got different types of information. We have suspended a few, registered FIR against them and taken action. Yet this is insufficient. If this goes on then why should we call it a prison? We shouldn’t call it one,” he remarked.
Pointing out that the inmates were imprisoned under the framework of law, the state Home Minister questioned, “Won’t it be wrong if prisons are not managed well?”
Referring to the central jail, he said, “The one in Bengaluru is a main prison in the state. If such things happen there then we have to take action. They have given some reply, but I am not content with them.”
Parameshwara dismissed suggestions that the government was acting under political pressure.
“The opposition BJP has to speak on this issue but we are not taking action because the opposition is raising the issue. We too have a responsibility,” he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
