Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar held meet with prison officials: Probe

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered Chandrashekhar to explain in detail as to how he managed to pay ₹12.5 crore to officials at Tihar and Rohini jails.

New Delhi: Even as the Supreme Court has ordered conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to submit names of all jail officials whom he paid money and people who handed the money to them, the ongoing police investigation in the case shows that Chandrashekhar’s aide Deepak Ramnani got the cash delivered to the jail officials through his younger brother Pradeep, and the transactions were done mostly on road stretches between Wazirabad and Model Town in north Delhi.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar. (File Photo/ANI)

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered Chandrashekhar to explain in detail as to how he managed to pay ₹12.5 crore to officials at Tihar and Rohini jails, which he claims to be “extortion” money to ensure his safety in custody, by July 26. He was also directed to provide the identities of the people who made those payments and to whom.

Case papers seen by HT show that seven prison officials have so far been charged in the case. They are: superintendents -- Surender Bohra and Sunil Kumar; deputy superintendents -- Subhash Bhatra, Mahendra Singh and Laxmi Dutt, and assistant superintendents -- Prakash Chand and Dharam Singh Meena. The officers, however, are yet to be convicted or acquitted by the court.

The papers show that Ramnani and Pradeep delivered the bribe money to Meena. The cash would then be divided among the prison staff.

According to the confessional statement of Meena recorded on October 12, 2021, a meeting was held in the Rohini Jail in May-June 2020between Sukesh and senior jail staff as soon as the conman reached the prison. Meena’s statement could be used as evidence because a statement given before a DCP-rank officer in cases of MCOCA is admitted as an evidence during trial.

A gist of Meena’s statement says, “It was known to all jail staff that Sukesh was a big cheat and even during jail custody he had committed crimes by using cell phones. On arriving in Rohini jail, Sukesh asked him(Meena) about facility of using phones and to use a single barrack for himself and asked to meet the jail superintendent. He discussed deliberation with Subhash Bhatra, Maninder Singh Sunderlal, Prakash Chand(deputy superintendent) and Prakash Chand(assistant superintendent). All of them met Sukesh(Chandrashekhar) and he told them he will extort very huge money from Shivinder Mohan Singh. After this a meeting was done with Sunil Kumar (superintendent) in his office. Sunil Kumar also agreed on the offer.”

According to Meena’s statement, during the meeting it was agreed that ₹50 lakh would be given to officers above the rank of assistant superintendent fortnightly, and ₹10 lakh would be given to those below that rank. Meena has also confessed that in July 2020, he collected ₹50 lakh for the first time from Model Town and distributed it among others.

The case papers show that jail officers smuggled cell phones for Chandrashekhar, allowed him to use it and also facilitated visitors for him in his ward. Unlike other prisoners, who share space in the crowded prison complex -- there are around 20,000 prisoners against a capacity of 10026 --Chandrashekhar was allotted barrack 204 inside the Rohini jail. The barrack had space to accommodate 15-20 prisoners.

Using the bribe money, Meena had purchased a Rs1.25 crore flat in Rohini and Bhatra bought a 26 sq metres plot in Rohini, accordind to the papers.

The case papers also show that while most prison officers in Rohini jail complex were hand-in glove with Chandrashekhar, one warder, Neeraj Maan had complained several times to his seniors about the cameras which were covered by curtains in the barrack. Maan had informed the new superintendent Bora “several times“ but there was no action taken against it. In fact, the investigating officials while analysing Meena’s phone found that he had held several WhatsApp calls between Chandrashekahr and his wife Leena Maria Paul. Police had also found Chandrashekhar’s call details with a new number, not linked to the jail records. The new number turned out to be registered in the name of a deputy superintendent’s daughter.

A police officer part of the probe who asked not to be named said, “Barring a few honest jail officials, between June 2022 and July 2021, the entire Rohini jail staff were involved in this fraud. He paid almost everyone. We could not arrest or name many of them for lack of evidence. They were paid cash. If he honestly follows the direction by the Supreme Court, the number of people who have received bribes will go up significantly. Also, it will be interesting what evidence or claims he submits to substantiate his allegations on those persons.”