Footage of Sukesh jail cell raid leaked, probe ordered

Officials said the footage of the raid is from December, when Chandrashekhar (33), who faces multiple cases of cheating people, was lodged in jail number 14 of Mandoli Jail.

CCTV footage of a raid at a prison cell in Delhi’s Mandoli jail, where Sukesh Chandrashekhar was previously lodged, has emerged on social media, prompting jail authorities to launch an enquiry, jail officials said on Thursday.

During the raid, jail officials found Gucci slippers and two expensive pairs of jeans from Chandrashekhar’s prison cell. (PTI)

Officials said the footage of the raid is from December, when Chandrashekhar (33), who faces multiple cases of cheating people, was lodged in jail number 14 of Mandoli Jail. “Now he is in jail number 13,” said a senior Delhi Prisons official, requesting anonymity.

During the raid, jail officials found Gucci slippers and two expensive pairs of jeans from Chandrashekhar’s prison cell. The official quoted above said there is no rule prohibiting footwear of a particular brand, or putting any cap on the worth of footwear being worn by a prisoner.

“However, wearing jeans is not allowed in jail. For that offence, Chandrashekhar has already been punished as per jail rules,” the official said, not immediately elaborating on the exact nature of the punishment meted out to him.

Jail authorities are also enquiring how Chandrashekhar managed to sneak jeans into the prison, the official said.

Speaking about the leaked footage, the official said, “Two of our officers led the raid as per rules and through the right processes. The footage should not have been released. We have launched an investigation into how the video was leaked.”

Chandrashekhar is involved in at least 32 criminal cases across Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and other states.

Between 2020 and early 2021, when he was in Delhi’s Rohini jail, he allegedly pulled off a ₹200 crore heist by duping jailed industrialist Shivinder Mohan’s wife Aditi Singh, posing as the Union law secretary and calling her with an offer to bail her jailed husband.

On February 16, a Delhi court sent Chandrashekhar to nine days’ custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case linked to the duping of Japna M Singh, the wife of former Religare promoter Malvinder Singh.

ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar contacted Japna Singh while impersonating the union law secretary to extort ₹4 crore in exchange for ensuring the safety of her husband, who is lodged in Tihar jail.