Night in 10x15 ft cell, simple breakfast for Kanimozhi in Tihar

IANS

New Delhi, 21 May 2011: Night in a 10 ft by 15 ft cell with a rolled up blanket as a pillow, a spartan breakfast of bread and tea and some Tamil newspapers - DMK MP Kanimozhi’s first day behind bars at the Tihar jail here was a far cry from the luxuries she is accustomed to.

 

The Rajya Sabha member and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s daughter spent her night in Ward 8, the women’s ward of jail number six at Tihar, officials said Saturday.

 

Arrested after being denied bail by the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the 2G spectrum scam, Kanimozhi, 43, was brought to Tihar around 4.30 p.m. Friday.

 

According to jail sources, a blanket was allowed to be used as cushion for the night and Kanimozhi went to sleep around 11 p.m.

 

"She slept around 11 in the night, got up around 5-5.30 a.m., took a bath and had her breakfast from the jail canteen," a Tihar jail official told IANS.

 

"Her breakfast was simple - bread slices with butter and tea. She read some Tamil newspapers before starting for the court at 9 a.m.," the official said.

 

In Tihar, her next door companions include Madhuri Gupta, the junior Indian diplomatic official who was arrested here on charges of spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency, and alleged spy Sonu Punjaban.

 

"Kanimozhi has been kept in the ’first time offenders ward’," the official added. He said her cell has a TV set and a small curtained toilet.

 

She complained about mosquitoes and asked for a mosquito repellent.

 

"She also chatted with some other inmates, specially the Tamil inmates in the women’s ward last evening," the official added.

 

He said she would not be allowed to interact with others accused in the 2G spectrum scam.