Minister: Sanjay Dutt is being treated like any other inmate

Allegations of special treatment to Sanjay Dutt in Pune’s Yerwada jail again cropped up in the Assembly on Thursday, prompting Minister of State for Home Satej Patil to clarify that the film star was being treated like any other convict.

It all began with Congress legislator from Pune Vinayak Nimhan raising the issue of the suicide of a Yerwada inmate. Replying to this, Home Minister R R Patil said the man had used a sharpened iron strip to kill himself.

However, expressing sarcasm, BJP MLA Girish Bapat asked whether the jail had an iron strip manufacturing unit. Later, Bapat referred to the allegations, of supply of alcohol to Dutt, made by his party colleague Vinod Tawde in the Legislative Council.

Congress MLA Krishna Hegde pointed out that instead of focusing on Dutt, the House should focus on the pitiable conditions in jails. On the issue of security at Yerwada, Patil said 55 CCTVs had been fixed there.