28 Tihar prison officials suspended for being complicit with jailed Unitech ex-promoters

New Delhi, October 14

The Delhi Prisons Department has suspended 28 jail officials after they were found to be complicit with Unitech’s imprisoned ex-promoters Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra, officials said on Thursday.

According to a senior jail official, 28 officials of Tihar Jail number 7 have been suspended while the services of two contractual employees are being terminated. Two officials would be suspended by the Delhi government, the official said.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had on Tuesday registered a case after 32 officials of Tihar Jail were found to be complicit with the duo. The FIR was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, and investigation was taken up.

The Supreme Court had on October 6 directed suspension of Tihar jail officials, registration of case against them and full-fledged probe into their collusion with Sanjay and Ajay Chandra, based on Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana's report.

The apex court had also directed that the officials of Tihar Jail who had been prima facie found to be complicit in the course of the inquiry be placed under suspension and directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to respond to the suggestions contained in the report submitted by Asthana.

The former Unitech promoters had been shifted from the Tihar Jail here to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail and Taloja Central Jail, following a Supreme Court order.

The court had said that two reports of the Enforcement Directorate about the conduct of Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra and the connivance of Tihar Jail staff in flouting orders and undermining the jurisdiction of the court had raised some “serious and disturbing” issues. PTI