Rajiv assassination convict Nalini Sriharan's claim to unblemished prison conduct for the past 19 years has been shattered after Vellore jail authorities recovered a cellphone from her possession and found that she had made calls to Canada and London, reports Times of India.
Nalini's daughter Meghara is in London with her paternal uncle's family.
She is said to be preparing to join a medical course this year.
Hours after the jail authorities released information about the seizure from Nalini's cell, the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict's counsel, P Pugalenthi, circulated copies of a letter Nalini had written to the additional director-general of police (prisons) on April 6.
The letter talks about harassment and torture at the hands of prison authorities, and says she never attempted to go against jail rules. Noting that she never attempted to bribe prison personnel to enjoy facilities not permitted legally, Nalini said she as well as her visitors were being subjected to humiliation and intimidation.
"In these 19 years, no banned material was found on either me or my visitors. But the excesses committed by prison personnel are crossing all limits. This place would be better described as a grave than as a prison for women," she said.
‘‘I adhere to jail rules, and I am not addicted to any bad habits. Because I don't bribe prison personnel I suffer a lot." Earlier in the day, prison officials said they were keeping a watch on her. "The instrument was seized from her possession at 6.30 am on Tuesday. The number has apparently been obtained in Chennai. We are scanning the call and SMS details on the handset," a jail official said.
Confirming the seizure, ADGP (prisons) K R Shyam Sundar said: "Following a tip-off, we monitored Nalini's cell in Vellore for more than three days. On Tuesday morning, teams raided her cell. They recovered a new Nokia mobile phone and it was switched on and active."
