Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Call it irony. Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare Tuesday found himself in the same prison that is already home to politicians, officials and business executives accused in two major corruption cases.

While Hazare is in the Tihar Jail block which houses former chief of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi, his key aide Arvind Kejriwal will share the jail premises with former telecom minister A. Raja, accused in the 2G spectrum scam.

According to Tihar Director General Neeraj Kumar, Hazare reached Tihar at around 3.40 p.m. and was kept in Jail Number 4.

His close aide Manish Sisodia and three others are in the same jail block.

“Arvind Kejriwal is in jail number one with four others,” Kumar said.

He, however, clarified that Hazare has not been kept near Kalmadi’s ward.

“He is in a ward far way from Kalmadi. We have already done their medical examination,” he told reporters. Kalmadi, accused of irregularities during the CWG, is in jail for the past three months.

“Anna Hazare is fasting. He refused to drink even water,” Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) R.N. Sharma told IANS.

Sharma also said both the jails accommodate over 2,000 prisoners.

Detained under Sections 107 and 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for breach of peace), Anna Hazare was presented before a special judicial magistrate, where he refused to sign the bail bond.

Hazare refused to sign a personal bond and was remanded to seven days judicial custody in Tihar Jail.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat described the arrest as “preventive arrest”.

Hazare, who was detained along with Kejriwal from outside an apartment in east Delhi, was first taken to Police Officer’s mess in Civil Lines in north Delhi and was then shifted to Rajouri Garden where the office of the West Delhi Deputy Police Commissioner is located.

As news spread about Hazare’s arrest, hundreds of his supporters gathered around the jail complex in west Delhi.