Taking a serious view of the fatal stabbing of gangster Tillu Tajpuriya in the prison complex, the Delhi High Court on Monday, May 8, 2023, questioned why no preventive steps were taken by the Tihar Jail staffs when the entire incident was captured in CCTV installed in jail.
Justice Jasmeet Singh called for an explanation from the Tihar Jail authorities over recovery of four knives in prison and additionally ordered the jail superintendent to be present in the court on the next date of hearing on May 25.
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Gangster Tajpuriya, accused in the Rohini Court Shootout, was stabbed to death allegedly by inmates belonging to a rival gang on May 2. The rival gang members attacked Tajpuriya again when he was being carried away by security personnel. The gory incident was captured live on CCTV cameras installed in the prison, which later got circulated over social media.
The High Court also issued notices to the Director General of Prisons (Delhi), Delhi government and Commissioner of Police on a petition filed by Tajpuriya’s father and brother seeking a CBI investigation into the “brutal murder”. Tajpuriya’s father and brother also sought adequate protection for themselves.
After perusing the CCTV footage of the incident, Justice Singh observed that this was “totally an unacceptable state of affairs”. The judge reminded the jail authorities that the security of every inmates is on them.
The High Court asked the police to consider providing security to the deceased’s father and brother. It also asked the government to indicate the accountability of the jail officials responsible for the lapses.
The Delhi government’s Prisons Department last Friday suspended eight Tihar jail employees in connection with the incident. A senior official said a departmental probe was conducted into the incident, based on which eight jail officials, including three Assistant Superintendents, were suspended.
Seven personnel of the Tamil Nadu Special Police (TNSP), who were on duty at Tihar jail when the incident took place, have been suspended and will be sent back to Tamil Nadu to face departmental action, a jail officials said on Sunday.
Tihar officials has also said that a quick response teams (QRTs) have been formed to tackle such emergencies on time. The QRTs comprise of jail officers, Tamil Nadu Special Police (TNSP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and will be deployed in high-risk jails as well as general jails.
