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No jail records of Priyanka’s visit

VELLORE: In a secretive visit to the Vellore Central Prison on March 19, Priyanka Vadra met Nalini, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, at the special prison for women. The issue has kicked up a controversy as doubts have been raised about the legality of her meeting with the convict.

Though Ms Vadra has confirmed her meeting with Nalini, officials at the Prison Department in Tamil Nadu maintained that prison records had no entry about the visit. “She did not apply for an interview with Nalini and there is no entry in the visitors’ register on March 19. Since there was no petition, the question of the Jail Superintendent permitting her to meet the convict does not arise,” a highly placed police source told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Nalini was Accused No. 1 in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. She was sentenced to death by the designated court and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence. In its 1999 judgment, the Supreme Court held that Nalini’s confession, corroborated by other material particulars, established her pivotal role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. The court found that on May 19, 1991, two days before the assassination, she got a “strong feeling” that Rajiv Gandhi was the target and on May 21 she “agreed to associate herself with the killing.”

Ms Vadra’s visit to Vellore was kept highly confidential till the last minute. While the State police were asked to stay away, the Special Protection Group (SPG) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths managed her security and schedules. On March 19, the VVIP got into a bullet-proof car positioned on the tarmac of the Chennai airport and proceeded to Sriperumbudur. After paying homage at the Rajiv Gandhi memorial, she went to Vellore to meet Ms Nalini in the prison. “On that day, 31 visitors met remand prisoners and one met a convict. But that was not Priyanka according to records,” a prison official said.

There was a lot of activity in the prison that day. This included the release of 33 prisoners on bail, the entry of 18 suspects into the prison and the remand extension of 33 inmates through video-conferencing. A team of doctors attended on 21 prisoners who took ill. “There was adequate security outside the prison as 12 prisoners were taken to court for remand extension. Nobody saw Priyanka,” he added.

However, sources in the intelligence agencies said advance security liaison was done by the SPG and IB with a top intelligence official, who alone was informed of Ms Vadra’s visit. Senior officials in the Prison Department, including the Superintendent of the special prison for women, Vellore, were not informed about the VVIP’s programme.

“Her meeting might have been facilitated as a special case in a separate room, probably the chamber of the Jail Superintendent. The application for the interview could have been taken in some other name.

“But audience is usually given only to the applicant. However, considering the high level of threat faced by the VVIP, exceptions could have been made,” the source added.

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