BELAGAVI: Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Thursday paid a surprise visit to the central prison at Hindalga and conducted an inspection.
The minister checked with the jail authorities on measures taken to prevent the use of mobile phones, supply of narcotics, security measures in place, etc. He also interacted with the jail inmates. The Home Minister was accompanied by Belagavi Police Commissioner Dr M B Boralingaiah.
Meanwhile, Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh, who also visited the jail, unveiled a portrait of Veer Savarkar inside the jail. It is said that earlier, there was a portrait of Savarkar, which was removed a few years ago. However, Hindu groups had insisted that it should be reinstalled and a portrait was installed, but that too was removed, according to locals.
On Thursday, the minister, along with MLC Ravikumar and several other BJP functionaries, unveiled a portrait inside the cell where Savarkar had been imprisioned for some time, and offered floral tributes. The portrait was first handed over to a jail official and then installed in the cell. The leaders also raised slogans including ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and in honour of Swatantra Veer Savarkar. But the media was not allowed inside.
Savarkar had spent 100 days in Hindalga jail as an undertrial from April 4, 1950, for protesting against the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Liyaqat Ali Khan to India. After his son filed a habeaus corpus petition in the Mumbai High Court, Savarkar was released on July 13, 1950 and received a grand welcome.