Ramalinga Raju doesn't want TV, reads case papers in jail

HYDERABAD: Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju had an unusual request for the Cherlapalli central prison authorities on Friday. "Shift us to barracks where there is no television set," they pleaded.

Obviously, the Raju brothers did not want to be exposed to any news and discussions on TV pertaining to them. This posed a bit of a problem for the jail authorities because all barracks have TV sets. But the TV sets of two barracks have gone for repair and it is here that the Qaidi number 4148 (Ramalinga Raju) and Quaidi number 4147 (Rama Raju) were shifted to.

Raju's other partners in crime were shifted to other barracks in the Godavari block of the jail after spending the night in Manasa Sarovar block - along with the two brothers. Ramalinga Raju is now sharing barrack space with 17 other prisoners who have been convicted in family or dowry-related cases. There are no hardcore criminals.

On Friday, except a morning walk outside the prison barrack when it was opened, Ramalinga Raju for most part of the day was engrossed in reading the CBI documents related to his case. Apart from that spiral-bound case book, Ramalinga Raju also got some other books along with him to the jail. The 10 convicts in the Satyam case, kept in separate barracks, could meet during the day when the barracks are opened.

A health check-up is conducted for every prisoner at the time of admission into the prison. Strangely however Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju declared that they had no health issues. The other eight, however, got their blood pressure checked and also got a health check-up done by the prison doctor.

As an undertrial, Ramalinga Raju had spent a long period in the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) at Punjagutta for his heart ailment and treatment for Hepatitis C. As an undertrial in the Chanchalguda jail, Raju had secured a special category status through a court order but right now at the Cherlapalli jail, he is an ordinary prisoner.

Thursday night was not without worries for Ramalinga Raju with mosquitoes biting him all over. After changing into prison attire - white shirt and trousers - which is mandatory for convicts, Raju retired for the night sleeping on the floor on a durrie. Jail sources say that Ramalinga Raju lit a mosquito coil to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Though eight of the Satyam case convicts had 'mulaqat' (meeting their family) on Friday, there were no visitors for Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju. Like ordinary prisoners, the Raju brothers were served khichidi for breakfast, chapatti/rice, dal, rasam and papad for lunch and a similar meal with a different vegetarian curry for the early dinner at 4pm.