New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, paced up and down his 14X8 feet cell on his first night in Tihar jail, managing only to sleep for a while, a prison official said.
According to prison officials, Kejriwal was brought to Tihar jail at 4 pm on Monday and was medically examined before being sent to his cell where he is staying alone. His sugar level was below 50 at that time and medicines were given to him on the advice of doctors, he said.
India’s first sitting chief minister to be lodged at Asia’s largest prison has been kept in jail number two. His wife and children are likely to meet him on Tuesday, an official said.
The chief minister was given tea in the afternoon and was served home-cooked food for dinner, a source said on Tuesday, adding that he has been given a mattress, blankets and two pillows.
He slept on a cement platform for some time and was seen walking in his cell late in the night, the source said.
In the morning, Kejriwal’s sugar level was still low and he is under the watch of Tihar jail doctors, prison officials said. He is allowed to have home-cooked food in lunch and dinner and it will be served daily, till his sugar level comes to normal, they said.
Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, meditation in his cell in the morning after which he was served tea and two biscuits, sources said.
Two personnel from Tihar Jail Security and a jail warder have been deployed outside his cell. Jail authorities are keeping a watch on him through the CCTV cameras, while a quick reaction team has also been deployed near his cell, officials said.
The books he had requested — Ramayana, Mahabharata, and ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’ — have been provided to him. He has also been allowed a religious locket that he wears.
As per the rules, Kejriwal has given a list of six people whom he would like to meet. The list includes his wife Sunita Kejriwal, their son and daughter, his private secretary Bibhav Kumar and AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak.
A Delhi court on Monday sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15, noting the Enforcement Directorate’s contention that his release could hamper the investigation into the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. Underscoring that Kejriwal was misleading it, the federal probe agency said it was still investigating the chief minister’s role, unearthing the further proceeds of crime and identifying the other persons involved with the activities related to the proceeds of crime.
