No VIP treatment for Rathore in prison

CHANDIGARH - Former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra, spent his first night in the Burail Jail here sleeping on a berth — like any other ordinary prisoner.

Jail authorities said that he was treated just like a normal prisoner.

“We have not given him any VIP treatment. We have not provided him any bed. Like any convict he slept on the berth. We are providing him normal jail food,” Amandeep Singh, deputy superintendent of Burail jail, told IANS Wednesday.

Rathore, 68, sentenced to 18 months in jail Tuesday for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, is sharing a cell with seven other prisoners, most of whom are convicted cops.

He was examined by a government doctor in jail before being formally placed in a cell Tuesday afternoon. His wife and counsel Abha Rathore had reached the jail to meet her husband Tuesday evening but was not allowed to go inside.

She gave some medicines and clothes to the security personnel deployed outside the jail.

“Normally, there is no hassle when relatives of any convict come for the first time. Abha Rathore came late, around 5.30 p.m. Therefore, she was not allowed to meet her husband,” Parmod Khatri, assistant superintendent of Burail jail, told IANS.

Abha Tuesday pleaded with the judge that Rathore was not keeping good health and required medical treatment. However, the jail staff maintained that there was no need of outside medical assistance.

“We do not think there is any need to call any doctor from outside or to take Rathore to some hospital. We have our own medical team in the jail and they had examined Rathore again at night. It was a routine check and everything was found normal,” stated Khatri.

Since the jail is comparatively small, Rathore would not be given a prisoner’s number.

Many dreaded criminals, including terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, convicted for assassinating Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, are lodged in Burail jail.

Ruchika committed suicide three years after Rathore molested her in Panchkula town, adjoining Chandigarh.