New Delhi: Purported videos of AAP leader Satyendar Jain lying on a bed and getting a foot massage in Tihar Jail here have gone viral on social media. Jain (58), who is in judicial custody over money laundering charges, can be seen reading some documents and a man in a white T-shirt massaging his legs in the video.
The footage is from jail no 7. The Delhi Prisons department comes under the AAP-led city government. Earlier this week, a Tihar jail superintendent was suspended for alleged involvement in providing special treatment to Jain in the prison.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of leaking Jain's videos from Tihar and claimed that he was undergoing physiotherapy for a spine injury. Accusing the saffron party of resorting to cheap theatrics, he said Jain, who is in judicial custody in a money laundering case, had fallen down in jail.
"He (Jain) had sustained an injury to his spine and even underwent two surgeries. The doctor had advised physiotherapy upon discharge and those videos show him getting physiotherapy," he said. Sisodia also said that his colleague has been lodged in a false case and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was poking fun at Jain's illness.
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"They (BJP) are losing the MCD and Gujarat polls and that is why they are resorting to such cheap theatrics. They should fight the MCD elections in Delhi on issues," he said. Meanwhile, Jain's legal team has moved the special court with application seeking contempt action against ED alleging that ED leaked CCTV video despite their undertaking given in court. Special Judge Vikas Dhull has issued notice to the ED and the matter is to be heard on November 21.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had claimed in a court here that Jain was getting special treatment inside the Tihar Jail. The federal probe agency had made the submission before Special Judge Vikas Dhull while concluding its arguments opposing Jain's plea in the money laundering case. "Unidentified people were giving foot massages to Jain even beyond curfew hours. He was also given special food, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, had said.
He had also shared CCTV footage with the court and alleged that most of the time Jain was either in hospital or in jail enjoying various facilities. Earlier this month, Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel was transferred from the Tihar Jail, days after incarcerated conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar alleged extortion of Rs 10 crore for protection in prison by Goel and Jain.
The AAP had dismissed the allegations as "absurd and baseless". The ED had arrested Jain and two others on May 30 in the money laundering case based on a CBI FIR in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The AAP minister has been accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him.
