Phone, tobacco found in Om Prakash Chautala’s cell in Tihar jail

A spokesperson for the prison said that Chautala’s cell partner, Ramesh alias Dudhia, confessed to be the owner of the cellphone, but officials are probing his claims and have ordered an inquiry.

Officers at the Tihar jail, in a surprise inspection inside the prison on Thursday, found a cellphone, charger and a tobacco pouch in the cell where former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala is lodged with two others prisoners.

Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala is taken to jail after being produced in a Rohini court in New Delhi. (PTI file photo)

A spokesperson for the prison said that Chautala’s cell partner, Ramesh alias Dudhia, confessed to be the owner of the cellphone, but officials are probing his claims and have ordered an inquiry.

“We keep conducting such inspections regularly. It is our in-house mechanism to ensure no prisoner violates jail rules. On Thursday morning, during one such inspection, a team of officers from the prison headquarters visited the cell and found the two prohibited items. Dudhia, who is convicted for murder, confessed the phone and the tobacco wrapper belonged to him. An inquiry will confirm this,” the spokesperson said, adding that call detail records would help them ascertain the owner of the cellphone.

A senior jail officer, who did not wish to named, said that Chautala denied knowledge of the phone. According to the officer, Chautala was out on furlough for 21 days and had returned to the prison a day before the search was conducted. Apart from Chautala and Ramesh, another murder convict, Surender, also shares the cell.

The jail authorities have handed the phone to Delhi Police for a probe. The former Haryana chief minister is serving a 10-year jail term after being convicted in the junior basic teachers recruitment scam.