‘Jails became recreation club for terrorists’: BJP’s sharp jibe at Karnataka govt amid ‘VVIP treatment’ row

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a broadside against the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka after a few purported videos surfaced on social media showing inmates of Bengaluru’s Parappanna Agrahara Jail receiving “VVIP treatment”.

 

Opposition leader R. Ashoka alleged that the state government has no control over law and order.

 

"The rapists, smugglers, and extremists in Parappana Agrahara prison are throwing all jail rules to the wind and enjoying unlimited fun with TV, mobile, internet, item songs, and more,” he said.

 

BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra, too, hit out at the government and even accused senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of enabling terrorists inside the jail to create unrest across the nation.

 

“Not only do Radical elements and ISIS operatives enjoy a free hand outside, but even the Prisons in Karnataka have been turned into Government-sponsored Recreation Clubs for terrorists!,” he said.

 

“Rahul Gandhi, who frequently travels abroad and seeks external interference in India’s internal matters - is he now enabling these terrorists and using their networks to create unrest across the nation and destabilise our democracy for artificial regime change with the help of the same foreign forces?,” the BJP leader further asked.

 

Meanwhile, Home Minister G. Parameshwara has convened a meeting of senior officials to review the situation and has also promised strict action against those involved in the incident.

 

The videos that have gone viral on social media showed a person supplying liquor, drugs and mobile phones to the inmates of Parappanna Agrahara Central Jail, also known as Bengaluru Central Jail, sparking a massive outrage.

 

"The media has reported illegal activities in the jails in the state. We have taken it very seriously. Government will not tolerate it at any cost,” Parameshwara said.

 

“All the officers concerned and the head of the prisons are responsible. After making them in charge of the prisons, it is their duty to manage them properly.”

 

The minister further noted that a few officers have been placed under suspension and an FIR has been filed against them in connection with the incident.

 

According to reports, those seen in the videos included Umesh Reddy, a serial killer on death row, and Tarun Raj, who was convicted in a gold smuggling case.

 

An ISIS operative brought from Dubai by the National Security Agency (NSA) was also seen in the video, an ANI report claimed.

India