He sacked CWG 2010 Organising Committee chairman had expressed his desire to Tihar authorities of watching a teleserial on Laxmibai, before it went off air recently
He sacked CWG 2010 Organising Committee chairman had expressed his desire to Tihar authorities of watching a teleserial on Laxmibai, before it went off air recently
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The way he was hounded and castigated by broadcast media in particular after the CWG scam came to light, one would assume Suresh Kalmadi has had enough of television. On the contrary, the sacked CWG 2010 Organising Committee chairman, who is now lodged in Tihar Jail, is making demands to the prison staff about what he wants to watch on the idiot box.u00a0 
Close watch: Suresh Kalmadi (extreme left), who was arrested by CBI
on April 25 in connection with the CWG scam, has a television set in
his Tihar Jail cell. File pics
Sources said that Kalmadi had recently expressed desire to watch the serial Jhansi Ki Rani which -- before concluding a few days ago -- was aired four days a week on a popular entertainment channel.u00a0Though Kalmadi has a television in his cell, he wasn't getting the particular channel. "He has been watching this serial since it went on air. He told us that he never forgot to catch the programme even when he was out of town," a senior Tihar Jail official said.
Though Tihar authorities remained tightlipped on whether the request was considered, sources said that subscription for the channel was indeed procured as this didn't violate any norms. Apart from Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot (secretary general) VK Verma (director-general), Surjeet Lal (deputy director, general-procurement) and ASV Prasad (joint director general-sports) of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee are also behind the bars.
Prison rules
Earlier it had been reported that Kalmadi kept telling the staff of Jail Number 4 at Tihar that he is an MP and should be provided with an air-conditioner.u00a0 Kalmadi has reportedly also expressed his desire to get two of his OC colleagues Lalit Bhanot and VK Verma shifted to his cell, which of course was refused by jail authorities. "There was the possibility that they were planning something," sources said. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to file its first chargesheet in the CWG scam, involving a contract awarded to a Swiss company for managing timing, scoring and results (TSR) during the Games.
Probe on
According to the investigating agency, the Games organisers allegedly conspired to award the contract for TSR system to Swiss Timing-Omega at an inflated cost of Rs 141 crore, causing a loss of Rs 95 crore to the exchequer. Kalmadi and his team, the agency believes, pocketed the amount. Kalmadi and other Games organisers are accused of awarding the contract to the Swiss company, brushing aside claims of competitor, MSL-Spain. The Spanish company had quoted Rs 46 crore for installing the equipment at various venues. It was "wrongfully eliminated, thereby causing pecuniary benefit to the bidder left in the fray," CBI pointed out.
Request denied
Tihar sources said that DMK leader A Raja had also reportedly asked the administration to shift all the 2G accused to one cell. The request has been rejected by the administration. When the jail staff were asked what would be the motive behind that, they refused to comment.
Bigwigs behind bars
An unprecedented number of well-known persons are currently lodged in Tihar, pending trial and forced into the uniformly spartan lifestyle the jail offers its wards. This includes former telecom minister A Raja, Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, mega-rich entrepreneurs such as DB Realty's Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech's Sanjay Chandra, and several other prominent, if lesser known, people.
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