Hazare joins Kalmadi, Raja in Tihar Jail

16 Aug 2011

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has been sent to Delhi's Tihar Jail, along with several of his supporters, in the wake of their arrest this morning.

After being detained under Section 107 / 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (breach of peace), Hazare appeared before a special judicial magistrate, where he refused to sign a bail bond.

The others remanded in seven-day custody are Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal, Darshak, Radheshyam, Suresh Pathare, Naveen Jaisingh and Dada Phatare.

The conditions of the bail included stipulations that he and his supporters would not violate Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code. He told the magistrate that he would not sign the bond and was ready to go to jail.

The refusal of conditional bail was fully in keeping with the format laid down by Mahatma Gandhi, the legendary peaceful protester, who Hazare frequently cites as his inspiration.

Hazare was a young contemporary of the Mahatama, and is leading a widely supported protest against deep-seated corruption in the government and administration of India.

Sources say that Hazare is being kept in Jail No 4, which is that same as former Commonwealth Games organising comittee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, accused of corruption.

The other six, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, are in Jail No 1, which also holds former telecom minister A Raja, again accused of corruption in the granting of telecom spectrum and licenses.