Falsely accused of having massage in Tihar jail; was getting physiotherapy: AAP's Satyendar Jain

NEW DELHI: AAP leader Satyendar Jain on Saturday said he was falsely accused of having massage in Tihar jail while he was getting physiotherapy due to "severe" leg pain.

A controversy arose in November 2022 when videos of CCTV camera footage from Tihar jail surfaced showing alleged "massage" being given to Jain who was then the Delhi prisons department minister.

In a statement issued by AAP, Jain said the video was an "exaggeration".

The doctor had prescribed exclusive bed rest for a month and the hospital doctors suggested him to stay in a room with better facilities. He could not bend or lift anything and was restricted from moving, the former Delhi minister said.

"During that time, I had severe leg pain. They arranged everything accordingly.

"Does anyone ever get a massage fully clothed? The physiotherapist was just doing his job, yet they falsely claimed I was getting a massage," said the AAP leader.

Jain was released from Tihar jail, where he spent 18 months, on Saturday after being granted bail by a Delhi court in a money laundering case.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case in March 2022.

He said Tihar jail has cameras everywhere and questioned why does not footage of anything else comes out and only his was available.

"They claimed I was having lavish meals, but all I had were seasonal fruits and vegetables," he said, and claimed for an entire year he did not eat anything and lost 40 kg of weight in the jail.

"There's a canteen where anyone can buy food with money and I have all the bills to prove it. They said I drank bottled water but I bought it from the canteen, which is available to everyone," he said.

The former minister also claimed that everyone had a TV in jail but he did not have a separate one.

"I was kept in a barrack for months where even notorious criminals are not kept for more than 15 days," he claimed.

No immediate reaction was available from Tihar administration over Jain's claims.

"I was kept isolated, and even after doctors advised otherwise, they refused to let me be with others as they wanted to torture me," Jain claimed.

He lashed out at the BJP alleging "if not for the judiciary, the BJP would have hanged me".

No immediate reaction was available from the BJP on his charges.

Referring to his videos from the jail, Jain said, "If the BJP is making these claims, why did they not release the video earlier? They only started airing it during the Gujarat elections."

On the first day of his freedom after months of imprisonment, the AAP leader visited a Jain temple along with his family. In the evening he attended a party meeting in which Kejriwal and other senior leaders were present.