Raja takes Tihar stay with calm composure

Feb 19, 2011 |

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Former telecom minister A. Raja, who was sent to judicial custody on Thursday in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, is reportedly taking his stay at the Tihar Central Jail with a calm composure and is apparently hoping that he will be released soon.

According to sources in the prison, Mr Raja woke up on Friday morning at 6 am, which is the usual time, and had a longish walk in the garden outside his ward. He also seemed to have slept normally on the mattress given to him along with a blanket. Besides attending the mandatory roll call, he also stood in the queue and participated in the morning prayer.
In the morning, he had bread and omelette for breakfast and ate other home-cooked food in the afternoon.
Jail authorities, however, claimed that the facility of home-cooked food will be extended to him only for two days.
That, however, should not be a problem for Mr Raja as he is understood to have taken to the jail food without much fuss. He also read the newspapers given to him and even asked for English books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Mr Raja also chatted with prison officials and personnel through the day reportedly telling them that his arrest was politically motivated and he hoped that he will be released soon. The former minister has been maintaining in public that he is innocent and will prove the same before the court. A high-ranking official said that Mr Raja was being treated like any other inmate lodged in jail No. 1.
Giving him “company” are other accused arrested and sent to judicial custody in the same case. They include, his former personal secretary R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, who are already cooling their heels in Tihar.
Shahid Usman Balwa of DB Realty, who too was remanded to judicial custody on Friday, has been lodged in jail No. 1, where he has been kept in ward No. 8, which is a solitary ward. The ward, however, is adjacent to that of Mr Raja.

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