Sasikala applies for remission, early release from jail
Bengaluru: Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's close aide V K Sasikala, serving a four-year jail term on graft charges, has sought remission and early release from prison, official sources said on Wednesday.
Sasikala, lodged at the Parappana Agrahara prison here, is expected to come out on January 27, 2021, after she deposited a Rs 10 crore fine at a special court.
However, she has applied for the remission of her jail term to come out early, sources close to the leader told PTI.
The prison authorities have forwarded her application to higher officials.
"She has applied for the remission of her jail term and it has been forwarded to the head of the department for their consideration," a source said.
Authorities are yet to take a call on it.
After the Supreme Court restored the trial court judgment in toto against Sasikala and two of her close relatives in the disproportionate assets case, she surrendered before the court in Karnataka on February 15, 2017 and has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail since then.
Her two relatives are also undergoing four years of simple imprisonment and all three of them were slapped with a fine of Rs 10 crore each.
With the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016, who was the first accused in the case, the appeal by Karnataka against her stood abated.
As per norms, three days of remission for good conduct is available for every month in jail and so far, she has completed 43 months, making her eligible for a reduction of 135 days in prison.
"As per the Karnataka Prison Manual, I strongly believe that she will be released by the month-end (November)," her advocate N Raja Senthoor Pandian had earlier said.
When the remission of 129 days is applied, the release will be by November end and not the previously expected date of January 2021, he had said.
Sasikala has already spent a total of 35 days in jail in 1997 and 2014 and availed 17-day parole in 2017, which is deducted from the period she already served, he had said.
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Masked men attempt to break into Haryana Cong chief's house in Narnaul, FIR lodged
Chandigarh (PTI): Masked men tried to break into the ancestral house of Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh in Narnaul, but failed after some staff members woke up on hearing the noise and informed police, officials said on Sunday.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday in Narnaul's Shiv Colony. The family members of Singh's brother Rao Devender were inside the house at the time of the incident.
A group of four-five masked men scaled a boundary wall to enter the house from the rear side. They cut off the CCTV wires and locked the rooms of the house staff from outside, police said.
Then they attempted to break open the rear entrance of the house using sharp tools. The house staff was woken up by the noise and raised an alarm, following which the intruders fled by jumping over the boundary wall.
Police said they reached the spot immediately after receiving the information about the incident.
Narnaul Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bharat Bhushan said special teams have been formed to nab the accused.
An FIR has been registered under Section 330 (house-trespass and house-breaking) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the matter, he said.
Police teams examined CCTV footage from near the house, in which four masked men are seen on foot. According to preliminary investigation, it appears that the accused may be part of a gang which is active in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, the DSP said.
"It appears that they entered Rao Narender Singh's house at random for theft and the house may not have been their specific target," Bhushan said.
"We hope to make early arrests in the case," he added.
The opposition Congress targeted the BJP government over the incident, alleging that the law and order in the state is deteriorating.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the accused cut the CCTV camera wires, broke the locks and attempted a "deadly assault" on Singh's family. He demanded immediate arrest of the accused.
He said if such an incident can take place at the house of the state Congress chief, imagine the state of fear the common people must be living in.
Surjewala said Singh and other Congress leaders have consistently raised their voices against the "organised crime mafia across Haryana".
Extortion, ransom demands, murder and robbery have become everyday occurrences in Haryana and crime reigns supreme, the Congress leader alleged.
