No bail in sight, Raju seeks solace in Buddha

HYDERABAD: A depressed Ramalinga Raju has turned spiritual in jail. On the third day of his jail life on Monday, when he managed to get a change of clothes, Raju started reading books on Gautam Buddha. The books were brought to him by his son Teja Raju, who accompanied lawyer Bharat Kumar to the jail. The son spent half an hour with his father and also gave him some fruits.

"He (Ramalinga) is not mingling with anyone. He is spending time by himself. Since he seems to prefer solitude, the other inmates are also not taking the initiative to strike a conversation with him," a jail official said. "He is really very downcast," said another jail official.

For company on Monday, Ramalinga Raju had his brother Rama Raju, CFO V Srinivas and two bootleggers.

Though as per procedure during a "mulaqat", a visitor can to talk to the inmates from behind grills, Teja Raju, who heads Satyam group company Maytas, was permitted entry into the jail though not into the barracks where Ramalinga is lodged. This was the first visit of a family member to Ramalinga Raju. However, his advocate spent more time with the erstwhile CEO.

"We discussed the case," Bharat Kumar said after a three-hour meeting with Raju. The advocate had earlier filed a bail plea for Raju in the Nampally criminal court. Since Raju was expecting bail, he had to be counselled about the circumstances in which the application could not be immediately taken up.

Vadlamani Srinivas' wife also visited the jailed ex-Satyam CFO.

Ramalinga Raju had other visitors too but they could not meet him as the authorities kept them waiting. A visitor handed over some books and some greeting cards to the sentry at the jail, requesting that they be handed over to Ramalinga Raju.