Patna
RJD president Lalu Prasad, who is lodged in the prison ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at Ranchi, is being shifted to the Kelly's bungalow, which till recently was the official accommodation of the institute's director. The administration has decided to convert the bungalow into a temporary jail to accommodate Lalu, a convicted prisoner.
The decision to shift Lalu from RIIMS was taken on the recommendation of the hospital superintendent who talked the jail superintendent of Birsa Munda Jail and senior SP of Ranchi. He told them in an official communication that since three of Lalu's attendants have tested Covid-19 positive, he should be moved elsewhere. Lalu's swab was also collected, but it was found negative. The hospital will retest Lalu on Saturday.
Kelly's bungalow is full of trees and has a big garden, which will allow Lalu to have morning and evening walks and meetings.
City SP of Ranchi visited the bungalow to oversee the security arrangements and said force would be deployed in the makeshift jail.
Lalu is in RIMS since April 2018 when he was shifted from AIIMS, New Delhi, where he stayed for a month. He was shifted following orders of the Supreme Court after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had a long meeting with him in the hospital ward.
Lalu, who is convicted in five different cases related to the fodder scam, was in Birsa Munda Jail for three months and then was shifted to RIMS.
Earlier, he was sent to jail in 2013 following his first conviction in one of the fodder scam cases by a CBI court in Ranchi.
