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Shahabuddin under watch in his jail cell

June 24, 2006 10:59 IST

Bihar government has decided to install closed circuit cameras in Rashtriya Janata Dal parliamentarian Mohammad Shahabuddin's cell in Siwan jail to keep close watch on his activities.

The RJD has demanded proper treatment to be provided to a reportedly ill Shahabuddin outside prison and approached the National Human Rights Commission in this connection this week.

"The state home department has taken a decision to install closed circuit cameras in his cell to keep a close watch on his activities," an official said.

"The closed circle cameras in Shahabuddin cell will help us to ascertain whether he was actually seriously ill or whether his illness was just a calculative move to delay the ongoing trial of the cases against him inside the prison," he added.

A Patna-based firm has been given the job to install the cameras in his cell by next week.

According to official sources, decision to install cameras is the fallout of RJD allegations that the Nitish Kumar government was not providing adequate medical facilities to him.

Central home secretary V K Duggal has reportedly asked the Bihar government to provide a comprehensive report after Shahabuddin made the allegations in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, official sources said.

In his letter, Shahabuddin had sought a probe into the incident in which he claimed he was assaulted by the Siwan jailor and district superintendent of police in his prison cell a few days ago.

The RJD has alleged that the Nitish Kumar government has hatched a conspiracy to kill Shahabuddin by deliberately denying him proper medical treatment for spinal problems inside jail.

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