D Roopa, who exposed special jail treatment to Sasikala, refuses Namma Bengaluru Award

Inspector General of Police (Home Guard and Civil Defence) D Roopa Moudgil, who had claimed that jailed former AIADMK leader VK Sasikala had free access outside Bengaluru jail she was lodged in, has refused to accept ‘Namma Bengaluru Award’, given by a non-profit organisation Namma Bengaluru Foundation.

The senior police official has refused to accept the award because of a high cash reward associated with the same. She has written to the organisation saying her “conscience” does not permit her to accept the award.

"Every government servant is expected to maintain neutrality and equidistance from all quasi-political bodies and associations that have even the bare minimum political overtone. Only then a public servant can maintain a clean and fair image in the eyes of the public," read Roopa's letter.

"It becomes all the more relevant now in the view of the ensuing elections," added Roopa, who was nominated for the Government Official of the Year category. Eight government officers including Roopa have been shortlisted for the award and the winner will be announced at an event in Bengaluru.

In 2017, D Roopa came to light when she submitted a CCTV footage to anti-corruption bureau in Karnataka showing Sasikala and her relative Ilavarasi entering Parappana Agrahara Central jail in civilian clothes.

In her four-page report, she had also alleged that a special kitchen was functioning in the jail for Sasikala, where she was lodged since February 15 to serve her sentence.

She had also claimed that the AIADMK chief gets special food daily, cooked by special chefs in a special kitchen near the women's cell.  Roopa had also revealed that special treatment also being extended to Abdul Karim Telgi, convicted in fake stamp paper scam. "3-4 convicted prisoners have been allotted to Abdul Telgi for body massage," D Roopa had claimed.

(With ANI inputs)