The famous Cottage Number 13 of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) has been spruced up during the last couple of days. The RIMS administration has kept most of its cottages, especially number 13 and 14, free for some undisclosed VIP inmates.
Hospital staff appointed to look after VIP patients told The Pioneer on Saturday that the administration has asked them not to allocate the cottages to any patient till further orders.
“We have been asked to keep both the cottages (13 and 14) vacant. But we don’t know who will be admitted to these cottages,” said a medical staff requesting anonymity. Both cottages are equipped with air-conditioners that differentiates them from the rest of the 12 cottages. At present three of the hospital’s cottages are being occupied by Nalin Soren, Jagannath Mishra and Sawna lakra.
These AC cottages, that come at a pittance of Rs 250 per day, provide a better environment to VVIP patients, who in most cases are high-profile politicians and scamsters who had been lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail (BMCJ). The cottages which became famous for providing safe havens to high-profile inmates, including Madhu Koda, Kamlesh Singh, Enosh Ekka, lodged at the BMCJ at different points of time are likely to welcome fodder scam convicts serving their sentence in the jail.
The jail administration is finding it difficult to handle a large number of visitors who throng the prison every day to meet lalu and other high-profile convicts. A PIl has also been filed in Jharkhand High Court saying the jail administration was violating rules by allowing lalu and other convicts in the fodder scam to lead a comfortable life in the prison.
Jail IG Shailendra Bhushan, however, denied that there was any move to shift lalu to the RIMS cottage. SSP Saket Kumar Singh also feigned ignorance in this regard. Incidentally, lalu, who is serving five years of Rigorous Imprisonment in connection with the multi-crore fodder scam, is suffering from a number of ailments including diabetes and hypertension. According to reports, Yadav’s blood sugar level had gone up on Friday, however it was below alarming levels.
Notably, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, another convict in the fodder scam, is already recuperating at cottage number 11 at RIMS. Mishra was undergoing treatment at another hospital in Delhi before he was brought to Ranchi for hearing in the scam.
Over the years, these cottages have been occupied by many VIPs convicted in scams in Jharkhand. The list includes Shibu Soren, MlAs Sawna lakra, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, former Mayor of Ranchi Municipal Corporation Rama Khalkho and former Secretary Health Dr Pradeep Kumar who are just some of the high-profile people to have stayed at RIMS cottages on the pretext of receiving treatment. Their lavish lifestyle, in violation of the jail manual, during their stay, had often invited the wrath of the Jharkhand High Court.