NEW DELHI: Incarcerated conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar has claimed that he has paid Rs 10 crore to jailed Aam Aadmi Party minister Satyendar Jain as “protection money”. In a letter addressed to Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chandrashekhar said he had known the AAP leader since 2015. The letter added that a total amount of Rs 50 crore was paid to the AAP as he was promised an important party position in south India.
“After my arrest in 2017, I was lodged in Tihar Jail and was visited multiple times by Mr Satyendar Jain, who held the portfolio of jail minister... In 2019 again, I was visited by Jain, whose secretary asked me to pay Rs 2 crore every month as protection money and to get basic facilities inside the jail,” the hand-written letter of Chandrashekhar, which was sent through his lawyer, read.
Chandrashekhar, currently lodged at Delhi’s Mandoli jail, was arrested for allegedly extorting money from high-profile people, including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi. He was shifted from Tihar jail to Mandoli jail in Delhi in August this year, after he made repeated requests for a transfer to another jail. He claimed he had received death threats from within Tihar jail.
This month, he again approached the Supreme Court with a request to shift him from Mandoli jail. However, the Supreme Court declined to entertain his plea. Interestingly, on October 19, days after the letter was posted, the L-G granted approval to the economic offences wing of Delhi Police to investigate 82 officials of the prisons department for their alleged involvement in the organised crime syndicate run by Chandrashekhar from inside jail premises.
In the letter, Chandrashekhar claimed he had disclosed the payments made to Jain, the AAP and also D-G Prisons, to a CBI probe team last month. There was no immediate response from the L-G’s office.