Between 9.30am on August 3 and 4.50pm on August 4, the time when top Uttar Pradesh gangster Ankit Gujjar got into a scuffle with jail officers and was found unconscious in another part of the prison, CCTV cameras inside ward 1 and 5A of Tihar jail 3 were switched off for “maintenance work”, according to a prison report seen by HT.
With allegations being aired that Gujjar, 29, was murdered because he was a whistle-blower and was providing information on an alleged extortion racket run by prison officials, the CCTV footage from the two wards could have been crucial evidence in establishing the sequence of events.
Meanwhile, a prisoner in his statement to the police, which HT has seen, alleged that jail officers switched off CCTV cameras on the afternoon of August 3, after which around “50 guards armed with lathis” attacked Gujjar and two other prisoners.
Delhi Police have registered a case of murder but are yet to arrest the main accused, deputy superintendent Narendra Meena. Suspended after the incident, Meena is currently in police protection. Last month, police claimed to have thwarted an attempt by Gujjar’s accomplices to murder him.
In the past month, this is the third case in which the officials of the country’s biggest prison have come under probe for allegations of corruption, custodial torture, and helping prisoners access banned items. Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana is already conducting an inquiry on role of prison officers who allegedly helped two jailed builders run an underground office in south Delhi from inside the jail. In another case, police arrested two jail officers for helping conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar dupe the wife of a top businessman (who is currently in jail) by spoofing phone numbers and posing as a law ministry officer.
{{/usCountry}}In the past month, this is the third case in which the officials of the country’s biggest prison have come under probe for allegations of corruption, custodial torture, and helping prisoners access banned items. Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana is already conducting an inquiry on role of prison officers who allegedly helped two jailed builders run an underground office in south Delhi from inside the jail. In another case, police arrested two jail officers for helping conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar dupe the wife of a top businessman (who is currently in jail) by spoofing phone numbers and posing as a law ministry officer.
{{/usCountry}}In the Gujjar murder case, in a status report filed before the high court on Thursday, Delhi Police said that they sought CCTV footage as part of the murder probe, but that jail officers said there was none. The prison department wrote to the police that the cameras were switched off on the morning of August 3 until the afternoon of August 4, because there were technical problems faced during installing of cameras in other parts of jail 3. As part of increasing surveillance in jails, the prison department is installing CCTV cameras all across the prison compound.
“As a result of such technical problems, the cameras between ward 1 and 5A were switched off,” reads the prison department’s report to the police.
Ward 1 is the place where Gujjar was shifted to and later found dead after the scuffle with jail officers -- at around 6am on August 4 -- and ward 5A is where the scuffle happened the previous day. Prison officers said that they used “minimum force” to contain Gujjar and his two cell mates after they were caught with a cell phone, data cable, and a knife.
The post-mortem report by a medical board, however, showed that Gujjar had at least 12 injuries on his head, neck and other parts of the body. The Delhi high court on Thursday noted that the injuries and absence of CCTV footage indicated that Gujjar’s death was a case of “custodial violence and torture”.
The case of the missing CCTV footage assumes significance in the backdrop of a statement by an eyewitness Vikas alias Veeru (identified only by one name), also an inmate of jail number 3. Vikas has claimed to be a “sewadar” who was helping jail officers at the control room.
Sewadars are prisoners chosen to help jail officers manage the prison.
Vikas, in his statement, said that at around 5.10 pm, deputy superintendent Narendra Meena and other jail officers conducted a search inside Gujjar’s cell and found a cell phone and a data cable. He has claimed to be part of Meena’s search team. Vikas has alleged that during the search, Meena slapped Gujjar, after which Gujjar slapped him back. “Thereafter Narendra Meena, deputy superintendent turned off CCTV Cameras and called more staff. In few minutes other staff Vinod Meena, Dinesh Chhikara, Harful Meena, Line Officer Naveen, Deepak Dabas, assistant superintendent, Ram Avtar Meena and others came and they started beating all three under trial prisoners -- Ankit Guj jar, Gurpreet and Gurjeet -- due to which they sustained injuries. They were taken to jail hospital where Dr Devender referred them to DDU Hospital, but Narendra Meena, deputy superintendent did not take them to DDU Hospital and instead all three UTPs were lodged in separate cell in ward No 1 of Jail No- 3,” reads his statement.
Until his arrest in August 2020, Gujjar was one of western Uttar Pradesh’s most wanted persons. Accused in at least eight murder cases, Gujjar carried a reward of ₹1.25 lakh on his head at the time of his arrest -- ₹1 lakh announced by Uttar Pradesh police and ₹25,000 by Delhi police.
Gujjar’s mother Geeta Devi, said that the family has requested the High Court for a CBI-monitored probe. “A day before he was murdered, my son complained against the extortion attempt by the jail officers. He had told my daughter that while he paid ₹50,000 to the jail officers, he was unable to pay the remaining amount of ₹50,000. We have submitted the phone recording to the police. This is also part of the FIR.”
Tihar jail officers declined to comment, saying that the investigation in the case is on and is being heard in courts.
The Supreme Court on August 26 directed Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana to personally conduct an inquiry on how Unitech’s former promoters violated prison rules and in connivance with jail officers ran a “secret underground office” in south Delhi from inside Tihar jail. Delhi Police have started the probe and sought details of all officers who were posted in jail 7, where the Unitech promoters were lodged. The Supreme Court also ordered the transfer of the two builders to Arthur road jail and the Taloja jail in Maharashtra.
Last month, Delhi Police also arrested a deputy superintendent of another sub jail for helping inmate Sukesh Chandrashekhar . Police have registered a case against Sukesh and two prison officers for allegedly duping the wife of Shivinder Singh, former promoter of Fortis and Religare Enterprises, who is currently in jail. Singh was arrested in October 2019 in a case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises. Police said his wife, Aditi Singh, was allegedly duped of an undisclosed amount by the conman, who posed as a senior government officer, and promised to bail Singh out.