Jail no bar for criminals at Tihar to run their rackets
The Delhi Police have stepped up efforts to keep an eye on the visitors of ‘high-profile’ criminals lodged in Tihar Jail. The move comes after the alleged suicide of one of the December 16 gang rape accused laid bare the apparent lack of vigil on prisoners.
The Delhi Police have stepped up efforts to keep an eye on the visitors of ‘high-profile’ criminals lodged in Tihar Jail.
The move comes after the alleged suicide of one of the December 16 gang rape accused laid bare the apparent lack of vigil on prisoners, sources said.
Considered a meeting ground for ‘like-minded criminals’, the prison facility, according to police, houses several dreaded criminals who continue to manage their gangs from behind bars.
“The extortion industry operates on a simple premise - by exploiting the fear of its victims. So, we have gang leaders committing heinous crimes and landing behind bars as their associates capitalise on the fear factor and the gang leader’s ‘reputation’ on the outside,” said an officer.
It is for this reason, sources said, that the visitors of as many as 12 convicts booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOCA) Act — whose identities cannot be revealed for tactical reasons — are under a subtle watch whenever they get a visitor.
Recently, a contractual employee at the jail was arrested for allegedly operating an extortion racket on the directions of Amit Shukla, convicted in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case.
“Keeping an eye on visitors generates leads in several criminal cases where the gang executes a crime at the behest of the master who is in jail. In many cases, the ones found involved, it turns out, had met the leader at Tihar,” said the officer.
“The amount of intelligence our vigil on the visitors of terror suspects helps gather is immense,” said the officer.