Mumbai, July 13: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for her alleged involvement in the Malegaon bomb blasts of September 2008, has threatened to kill herself. Lodged in Byculla jail, she has sent a open letter to the media, saying she is fed up with the ill-treatment being meted out to her by the police and the other authorities. In her letter, dated July 11, Thakur said that she would be committing aatmatyag (suicide) inside the jail.
The letter, a copy of which is with the DNA, mentions how, in spite of her being unwell, the police took her to JJ Hospital in their jeep instead of hiring an ambulance.
Thakur has claimed in her letter that the state government and the ATS have hatched a conspiracy against her, and the JJ Hospital administration is a party to it. She has added that if anything happens to her, their concerted efforts would pay off.
Thakur’s lawyer Navin Chaumal said that she was being ill-treated and harassed by the authorities and the cops. He added that when the sadhvi was in the lock-up, before she had to be taken to JJ Hospital, she was given non-vegetarian food. She was badly beaten up by other undertrials. Moreover, JJ Hospital doctors did not treat her properly.
The sadhvi’s advocate said it was strange that a dreaded terrorist like Mohammed Ajmal Aamir Kasab was given VIP treatment in jail, whereas Thakur was being ill-treated for being a Hindutva leader.
Thakur was arrested last year by the ATS for her alleged involvement in the bomb blasts. After her police custody, she was sent to judicial custody in Byculla jail. Following complaints of ill health, she was admitted to JJ hospital in October. On Friday, she was discharged from the hospital and sent back to judicial custody again.
–Agencies