47 Tihar Jail staff in Delhi under scanner after biometric mismatch

Officials now suspect that these 47 staffers may have got the jobs by sending other candidates to take the written exam. Under the recruitment procedures, the biometric data of applicants are recorded when they turn up for the written test

Forty-seven officials of Delhi’s three prisons were issued a “show cause notice” and their salaries put on hold after a biometric verification drive conducted inside the prison last month detected a mismatch with the records saved during their recruitment test, senior prison officers said.

An inside view of the Tihar Jail. The officials are employed as warders (40), matrons (2), and assistant superintendents (5) at the three prison complexes in Tihar, Rohini, and Mandoli, where around 19,000 prisoners are lodged. (Representational image/HT Archive)

Officials now suspect that these 47 staffers may have got the jobs by sending other candidates to take the written exam. Under the recruitment procedures, the biometric data of applicants are recorded when they turn up for the written test.

Sandeep Goel, director general of Tihar prisons, said, “A biometric verification drive was conducted by DSSSB in the prisons department in the last week of November. All the newly joined candidates of Delhi Prisons from 2019 onwards (warder and assistant superintendent ranks) recruited through the exams conducted by DSSSB (Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board) were screened by matching their biometrics with the data preserved at the time of recruitment. As a result of the exercise, 47 cases of preliminary mismatch have been detected. Further action will be taken after final report is received from DSSSB.”

Prison officers said the show cause notice and salary suspension is just the first step. The prison department, which comes under the Delhi government, will share their replies with the DSSSB -- the government body which conducted their recruitment. Based on the report by the DSSSB, the prison department is likely to approach police.

A prison officer, who asked not to be named, said the biometric verification drive was conductedafter the DSSSB received an anonymous complaint that some officers in Delhi jails had cheated the system to get a job.

Prison officers said the fraud is alarming because the three prisons in Delhi have many prisoners – some with threats to their life, according to intelligence bureau. Prisoners such as underworld don Chhota Rajan, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal Christian Michel, and many others involved in terror cases are lodged in these jails.

“Of the 47 officials, those who were posted in sensitive corners of the jail were immediately pulled out of such duties,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.