Raju goes back to jail from Nims

HYDERABAD: Officially speaking, Ramalinga Raju went missing from official records since Wednesday night only to surface at Chanchalguda jail 24 hours later on Thursday night. Raju was ‘discharged’ from the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences on the night of November 25 but he did not go back to the prison the same day. Instead, on Thursday, ‘discharged patient’ Raju was still enjoying the comforts of his private room at NIMS until late evening even as Chanchalguda jail authorities claimed they were awaiting communication from the hospital or the escort team that was keeping a vigil on him.

Sources said that the hospital received a letter from the jail authorities on Wednesday saying that there was a delay in treating Raju for his illness. The letter also warned the management that if any problem arose, the hospital authorities would be held responsible. Reacting to the letter, the head of cardiology department, under whose care he was admitted, was asked to discharge Raju on the same day. Since the time Raju was ‘discharged’ on Wednesday night, the hospital authorities on Thursday refused to talk saying that they had discharged him and no medical aid was given after that. But ironically, he stayed put up in one of the VIP private rooms at the hospital where he had stayed since September 25. He was admitted to hospital on September 7 after he suffered a mild heart attack.

While the hospital authorities told the media that they were waiting for a vehicle to be arranged by the prison authorities, till late night on Thursday, he was accommodated in the same room and the vehicle was nowhere in sight. But there was a lot of activity around his room with a posse of policemen in uniform and in plainclothes moving in and out of his room, appearing busy.