Two more Tihar jail staff suspended over links to ex-Unitech promoters

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[google-translator]

The Delhi government on Thursday suspended a superintendent and deputy superintendent of Tihar jail for allegedly helping jailed Unitech ex-promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra violate prison rules. and run a “secret underground office in south Delhi” from inside the jail, officials privy to the development said.

On October 14, the prison’s director general suspended 28 junior officers and terminated the services of two contractual employees in connection with the case, after the Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana named 32 people who abetted the Chandra brothers.

The prison’s director general, Sandeep Goel wrote to the Delhi government’s home department to suspend one superintendent and a deputy superintendent, who were named in the case, since it needed approval of the government’s home department.

Asthana named the 32 officers in his inquiry reported submitted to the Supreme Court earlier this month.

To be sure, officers of the rank of superintendent and deputy superintendent can only be suspended by the home department and not the prison headquarters. The two are the senior most officers among the 32, who allegedly took bribes to help the jailed Unitech promoters.

The Delhi police’s crime branch has registered an FIR against these 32 jail officers and the former Unitech promoters along with their father Ramesh Chandra.

A crime branch official, privy to the case details, who asked not to be named, said, “There was a second round of questioning on Monday. We have found evidence to establish that many of these junior officers were in touch with Unitech officials outside the jail. They received money regularly for extending favours to the Chandra brothers. These junior officers were doing this on the instructions of, and the knowledge of the senior officers. We have found call data records, which connects some of the warders and assistant superintendents to the Unitech officials…”

Police on Monday seized the cell phones of all these 32 jail officers.

All the accused officials were posted in jail number 7 of Tihar, where the Chandra brothers were lodged until the morning of August 28, when they were shifted to Arthur Road and Taloja jail in Maharashtra on the orders of the Supreme Court. The accused jail officers include one superintendent, one deputy superintendent, seven assistant superintendent, 10 head warders, 11 warders and two contractual employees.

“The sections of Prevention of Corruption Act have been specifically added in the FIR… We have proof in the form of money transactions that some of them received. We have collected bank accounts of their (Unitech) officials too…,” a second police officer said.

The Supreme Court on August 26 asked Asthana to conduct an enquiry to probe the role of jail officials. Based on his report, on October 6, the top court ordered the government to suspend the officers named in the report, and also register an FIR in the case.

The Chandra brothers were arrested in April 2017 for duping homebuyers in 74 Unitech projects.

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