Chennai: Sri Lankan national Robert Payas, who was convicted in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has said the special camp where he has been lodged after being released from prison was worse than the jail.
Payas mentioned this in a letter written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. He is one of the six convicts who were released from prison on November 11 this year following a Supreme Court order.
Payas had served thirty-two years in prison. In a letter — dated December 29 (Thursday) — which was released to the media through his advocate Sivakumar, said that the special camp of Tiruchi where he has been lodged was worse than the jails where he was housed.
He complained that only ‘blood relatives’ were allowed to meet the former convicts, adding being a Sri Lankan, he doesn’t have any such relatives in India and his friends were also not allowed to meet him.
Payas also mentioned in the letter that while he was allowed to play outdoor games in the jail, in the special camp he was not allowed to even “move out of the room”. He said that he was feeling suffocated after being lodged at an office room in the camp.
“I am not allowed to even walk outdoors and I feel suffocated and I feel that I am not enjoying the freedom and instead feel as if I am shifted to another jail,” the letter noted.
He said that in jails, inmates were allowed to use telephones and they could speak to relatives and friends once a week. However, in the special camp, he was not given any facility to make telephone calls to friends or relatives.
Payas also said that he was facing hardship due to solitary confinement and not being able to speak to people over the telephone.
Therefore, he requested the Chief Minister to issue necessary instructions enabling him to have outdoor activities in a special camp.
He also requested CM Stalin to allow him to speak to his friends and well-wishers on humanitarian grounds.
Payas, however, thanked the Tamil Nadu government for “engaging the best legal brains for his and other convicts’ release”.
The former convict also expressed his desire to meet the Chief Minister and to thank him for providing them legal support.
