Paul’s new daily grind!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 29: For suspended Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Paul and his accused accomplices – APSC member Samedur Rahman and APSC Deputy Controller of Examition Pabitra Kaibartya – there is a different routine, their daily grind set for over 1,000 inmates, including Maoists, NDFB and NSCN rebels staying in Guwahati Central Jail. Here everybody has to be punctual, and there is no leeway for anyone, regardless of who he/she was.

Paul is in cell No. 2 of the Central Jail, along with 41 other inmates. While Samedur is in cell No. 8, along with 40 other inmates, Kaibartya is in cell No. 4. According to authorities in the jail, initially Paul and Samedur used to wish each other when they met during the day. However, of late that is a history. What do they sore at each other? What could be anyone’s guess? bakanta Patir, on the other hand, wants to remain alone. He does not even talk to the inmates in his cell, let alone to Paul, Kaibartya or Patir.

Their daily grind is something different. It is their menu which is one and the same for all. Sharp at 6 in the morning, Paul, along with all other inmates, takes a chapatti of 90 gm flour, a cup of tea with jaggery – his breakfast. At 10.30 he takes the day’s meal – rice with dal (pulses) and curry. In two meals a week he and others get either meat or egg or fish. Their supper is at 4.30 pm.

According to authorities in the jail, Paul is often seen lying on the bed with his face up.

Initially, according to jail authorities, Samedur was a broken man. He used to sob. The over 1,000 inmates in the jail include Maoists, NDFB, NSCN and rebels of Manipur outfits. Apart from them, there are also inmates from Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan.