Bengaluru: D Roopa, the Karnataka police officer whose report had alleged that AIADMK chief VK Sasikala is enjoying VIP facilities in a Bengaluru prison, was transferred today. So was her boss HN Satyanarayana Rao, the state’s Director General of Prisons, whom she accused of accepting a bribe for favours to Ms Sasikala.
In a report to the Karnataka government this week, Ms Roopa had alleged that Ms Sasikala had been given an exclusive kitchen and other facilities after she paid a bribe of about 2 crores. Her report referred to “speculation” that Mr Rao could have been a beneficiary of the bribe.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered an inquiry but later declared that action could be taken against Ms Roopa for violating her service rules by going to the media.
Ms Roopa denied that she had leaked her report, based on her inspection of the jail on July 10, to the media and blamed Mr Rao.
Mr Rao, transferred just days before his retirement, called her allegations “wild and baseless” and insisted that no special treatment was being given to Ms Sasikala.
Ms Sasikala, a lifelong companion of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, was jailed for corruption. There have been allegations that she enjoys perks like relaxed visiting hours and specially cooked food.
When an RTI or Right to Information reply revealed that Ms Sasikala was allowed more than her share of visitors and many after the 5 pm deadline, Mr Rao had claimed that the rules about visitors “is not ironclad”.
Ms Roopa also alleged in her report that Abdul Karim Telgi, the kingpin of a multi-crore stamp paper fraud, was another jail inmate getting special benefits.
