NEW DELHI: The four men, convicted in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, seem to be panicky due to reports in the press about the preparations of their execution, sources in the Tihar Jail said. An official at Tihar jail, said that it was "obvious" for the four men to get anxious as the media has "over-hyped the speculation (of hanging)". "Of course, preparation are being made at the jail to hang them, but there has been no order so far,” he said.
While three convicts Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh Thakur and Vinay Sharma were already held at Tihar, Pawan Kumar Gupta was moved to the high-security prison from the nearby Mandoli jail on December 10.
The Tihar official said co-prisoners had been trying to scare the convicts about what may happen to them anytime soon. He said that the quartet have no access to newspapers but there are some international news channels and about two-three Indian channels allowed for all prison inmates.
“Everybody gets to hear from somewhere about what is going around in the media, especially when it is such a big case. In such situations, other lodged at the prison generally talk to the convicts who are expected to be hanged. They are certainly anxious as expected,” the official said.
According to jail authorities, the preparations are being made as their requests for hangmen on short notice was accepted by the Uttar Pradesh DGP. Ropes from Buxar, Bihar have already arrived at the prison in Delhi. The jail authorities have inspected the apparatus for executing the convicts.
To ensure that any information is not leaked out in the high-profile case, Tihar jail officials phones have been put on surveillance. Meanwhile, Tihar jail authorities have also been receiving requests from several people, including a head constable, who are ready to volunteer as hangman.