A week after Indian Mujahideen terror suspect Salman Ahmed was allegedly assaulted by fellow inmates, Tihar authorities shifted him to a different sub-jail to ensure his security. “Salman Ahmed, who was beaten up on August 27 by two fellow inmates in Sub-Jail Number 5, has been now shifted to the high-security ward of Sub-Jail Number 4,” said a jail official, who is not authorised to talk.
He said their internal probe showed that two inmates, Deepak and Sunder, got into an argument and physical fight with Ahmed. The IM suspect, who was in a high-security ward at Sub-Jail Number 5, had complained to a city court about the attack on him. His lawyer Iftikhar Ahmed, however, was not available for any comments.
“Based on Salman’s complaint, we had lodged a First information Report with the Hari Nagar police,” the official said regarding the action initiated by the jail authorities against Ahmed’s alleged assaulters. “But when the police team arrived at the jail to take Salman’s statement against Deepak and Sunder, he refused, saying ‘he has no complaints now and that they have sorted it out among themselves’,” the official added.
He said that as the IM suspect had not given any statement to the police, “we have not taken any action against Deepak and Sunder”. However, they have moved Ahmed to avoid “any such occurrence in future”. The jail official said that Deepak and Sunder, also lodged in the high-security ward, were violent and were facing assault charges. “Deepak and Sunder were earlier friendly with Salman but these men usually have inflated ego and fight over trifles,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said that as the IM suspect had not given any statement to the police, “we have not taken any action against Deepak and Sunder”. However, they have moved Ahmed to avoid “any such occurrence in future”. The jail official said that Deepak and Sunder, also lodged in the high-security ward, were violent and were facing assault charges. “Deepak and Sunder were earlier friendly with Salman but these men usually have inflated ego and fight over trifles,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Deepak and Sunder continue to be lodged at sub-jail 5. According to the jail official, Deepak and Sunder picked a fight with Ahmed at a spot which was not under closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance. “Inmates usually do such illegal things outside the gaze of the CCTVs,” said the official.
Ahmed’s cell is watched over by CCTVs round-the-clock. Ahmed was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad in March from near the India-Nepal border.
He was then handed over to Delhi Police’s Special Cell. Anti-terror agencies suspect Ahmed in several blasts including the September 2008 ones in Delhi, July 2008 Ahmedabad blasts and May 2008 Jaipur blasts. Ahmed was an alleged an aide of IM’s top controller Riyaz Bhatkal.