New Delhi, Sept 12: Amar Singh is giving sleepless nights to the Tihar Jail authorities nowadays. He has been able to extract special benefits from behind bars and has suddenly earned the tag of the being the most high-maintenance 'VIP prisoner' in Tihar Jail, reports Times of India. The 55-year-old politician has become "very demanding" over the last five days, says the report.
Amar Singh has secured special concessions from jail authorities, citing 'poor health'. But Tihar officials say all his medical records are normal and these will be submitted in court. A senior jail official described Amar Singh as someone "hard to deal with", who tells jail officials every day that he will be out in 24 hours.
Since he landed in jail last week, Amar has been refusing to lead the life of an ordinary jail inmate. Senior Tihar officials said he has been lodged in a single cell with an attached bathroom.
"He has been placed in a ward and not in the barracks as he has ordered by the court. In fact, we even provided him with two cell mates who scrub the floor and keep his cell clean. The floor is wiped four to five times a day with disinfectant and insecticide is sprayed regularly to ensure that mosquitoes are at bay. His two cell mates are not allowed to use the bathroom of his cell. All this has been done keeping in mind his health," said a senior Tihar officer.
As a special consideration, Singh is even allowed home-cooked food apart from being served jail food.
"He has been receiving home-cooked meals for the past two days as he claimed that he had chronic kidney problems. He can avail anything from the canteen as well. This is a special concession and we have even offered him a European toilet that can be installed in a matter on request. This has been done because he claimed to have a urinary tract infection," said a senior Tihar official.
Singh reportedly also kicked up a fuss at not being allowed to make phone calls to his wife.
"He wanted to call home, but he had not provided us with a copy of the postpaid bill of the number he wanted to call. According to the jail manual, inmates can only make a phone call on postpaid numbers after producing a valid bill which has to first be verified. We explained the procedure, but he was adamant. However, we could not allow him to make the phone call," said a senior Tihar official.
Singh, who is used to luxury, has been complaining about the heat. There is a lone fan in his cell. Singh has also been allowed to meet a steady stream of visitors who arrive every day. As per jail rules, inmates are only allowed two visits per week, but Singh has been meeting visitors every day, including his wife Pankaja, his younger brother as well as actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada.
"There are many MPs and MLAs who come to meet Amar Singh daily. In fact we have to keep turning visitors away," said a Tihar official.Meanwhile, Singh has been spending his days strolling around his ward and talking to Madhu Koda and other inmates accused in the 2G scam.
"He is very friendly with them and talks to them all the time. He also loudly proclaims to jail authorities and other inmates that he will be leaving jail the next day. Jail authorities have been finding it very difficult to deal with him, unlike other high-profile prisoners. Initially, he refused to give his blood and other samples to jail doctors due to which his medical reports have been delayed. Singh has not been cooperating much despite the fact that we have put him on round-the-clock medical support, allowed him his special medications and placed him in a jail closest to the hospital. We have even kept an ambulance on standby," said a Tihar official.
Singh has been lodged in Jail Number 3 in Tihar since Tuesday after he was sent to 14 days' judicial custody for his alleged role in the cash-for-votes scam.
Singh is the sixth MP to be lodged inside Tihar after Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, former telecom minister A Raja, sacked CWG OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and former Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav.
