Delhi Minister Getting Massage In Jail, Meeting Co-Accused: Probe Agency

The Enforcement Directorate today submitted CCTV footage in a Delhi court alleging that Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who was arrested in May this year in an alleged money laundering case, is living a luxurious lifestyle in jail and influencing the investigation by regularly meeting the co-accused in the case. 

In an affidavit submitted to the court, the central probe agency said that Mr Jain is getting all facilities -- including head, foot, and back massage -- in Tihar jail. It accused Mr Jain, who is also the prisons minister, of taking unfair advantage of his position.

According to the footage, the jail superintendent meets Satyendar Jain every day, which is against the rules, the ED said, adding that homemade food is provided to him in jail, defying the court order.

The probe agency further alleged that Satyendar Jain's wife Poonam Jain comes to meet him often in the cell, which is against the jail manual.

Mr Jain often meets with other accused, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, who are also locked up in Tihar, it said.

According to the Tihar jail administration, the ED had demanded footage of Satyendar Jain's cell and the ward in which he has been placed. 

The prison administration claims that no one from outside visited Mr Jain's cell. However, during the headcount in the morning, all the prisoners present in the ward can talk to each other. The co-accused that is being talked about is also in the same ward in which Mr Jain is, so they can talk among themselves, it said, stressing that after counting, when everyone goes to their own cell, they cannot go to each other's cell. 

Tihar administration has also denied that Mr Jain has access to any kind of electronic gadget.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Rouse Avenue Court complex had on Thursday allowed the plea for an early hearing on Mr Jain's bail application.

The ED had initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 24, 2017.