28 officials at Tihar jail, where Jain is lodged, shifted out

The officers transferred are those who were directly guarding or were in-charge of the cell where the minister was lodged. An inquiry has been ordered to probe the role of other persons, said a senior prison officer

At least 28 prison officials posted in Tihar jail number 7 where former Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain is lodged have been transferred, officials aware of the development said.

An inside view of the Tihar Jail. Among those transferred were 2 deputy superintendents, 3 assistant superintendents, 7 head warders and 16 warders. (HT Photo)

The transfer order was issued after the suspension of Ajit Kumar, superintendent of Jail number 7 on Monday for allegedly circumventing rules to give special facilities to Jain. Until his arrest in the money laundering case, Jain was also minister of prisons in Delhi.

“The officers transferred are those who were directly guarding or were in-charge of the cell where the minister was lodged. An inquiry has been ordered to probe the role of other persons,” said a senior prison officer, aware of the development.

Among those transferred were 2 deputy superintendents, 3 assistant superintendents, 7 head warders and 16 warders, said the officers quoted above.

Last month, Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) sought a report from the Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar regarding allegations that Jain was availing ‘special treatment’ inside Tihar prisons in connivance with the prison authorities. The MHA sought the report after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed a Delhi court that Jain was living a luxurious lifestyle with facilities such as face, head and foot massages, fruits and salads as well as meeting his family members and the witnesses of the case in which he has been arrested.

Amid the allegations, Director General (Prison) Sandeep Goel was transferred in the first week of November. Earlier this week, the prison also appointed a spokesperson, Dheeraj Mathur.

The AAP has maintained that Jain’s arrest is a case of political vendetta. Deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia had said that Jain was arrested because he was made the party’s charge in the campaign for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) had arrested Jain in May this year under prevention of money laundering act (PMLA). The central agency’s probe against Jain is based on a 2017 case of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in which it was alleged that the AAP leader and his wife Poonam Jain had amassed disproportionate assets worth ₹1.47 crore between February 2015 and May 2017, which was 217.20 percent more than their known sources of income. The agency has also alleged that Jain set up shell companies to launder money between 2011 and 2016.

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