Manish Sisodia is in Tihar jail on a 14-day judicial custody
The Delhi prisons department today trashed the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) allegation of a plot to murder its senior leader Manish Sisodia in Tihar jail.
Mr Sisodia, AAP's Number 2 and Delhi's former Deputy Chief Minister, is in judicial custody after he was arrested last month in the liquor policy case. His bail petition will be taken up on Friday.
The prisons department said in a statement that Mr Sisodia "has been assigned to a segregated ward keeping his security in mind". "The ward of CJ-1, where he is lodged has minimum number of inmates who are not gangsters and are maintaining good conduct inside the jail," the prisons department said, responding to AAP's allegation that Mr Sisodia has been lodged with dangerous and violent prisoners.
"A separate cell makes it possible for him to meditate or do such other activities without any disturbance. All the arrangements, as per Jail Rules, are in place to ensure his safety and security. Any aspersions cast about his lodgings is unfounded," the department added.
The prisons department's reply came after AAP leaders alleged that Mr Sisodia has been lodged with the country's most dangerous criminals "who face dozens of murder cases and can kill anyone".
AAP's spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, who is set to be sworn in as minister tomorrow, questioned if this is the kind of political rivalry the BJP believes in.
"You could not defeat us in Delhi. You could not defeat us in MCD polls. Despite all your conspiracies, our candidates were elected to the mayor and deputy mayor posts. The silence of the Prime Minister on this issue is for everyone to see," he said.
"We are now worried if the centre would also engineer political murder?" he questioned.
The allegations were repeated by senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh. He reiterated that the AAP is worried that Mr Sisodia "may be murdered in jail".
"(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji, what is your enmity with Mr Sisodia, why so much hate? When the court has allowed him to stay in a meditation jail, then why is the order not being followed?" he asked.
Sending Mr Sisodia to judicial custody for 14 days, a special court on Monday directed jail authorities to consider his request of keeping him in the meditation cell.
The senior AAP leader, who also held Delhi's excise portfolio, faces allegations of corruption in the liquor policy that was scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe.
The Arvind Kejriwal government was accused of bending rules and providing undue benefits to liquor vend licensees.
The Delhi government has rubbished the allegations, saying that the BJP was misusing investigating agencies for political motives.