NEW DELHI: The Tihar Jail authorities have yet again recovered mobile phones among other contraband items that were buried 2-3 feet in the ground by inmates, a senior official said on Thursday. According to the official, the recovery included three smart mobile phones, two keypad mobile phones, two data cables, one adaptor, one knife and one sua (iron borer). “We conducted an intensive search operation on July 25 in Central Jail No.3 (Tihar) on the basis of an intelligence input received in the jail,” the official said.
During the intensive search operation, the recovery of mobile phones and other contraband items was made after digging about 2-3 feet in the ground at multiple places based on intelligence inputs. Further, another search operation was conducted on July 26 in Central Jail No.11 (Mandoli) in which three Kechaoda Mobile along with three sim cards and other contraband items such as handmade Cigarettes were recovered.
A senior jail official told this newspaper that the jail authorities have now developed a special intelligence network and Jail Superintendents are themselves conducting surprise raids to stop any illegal activity inside the prison. The usage of mobile phones by inmates is a cause of concern as there have been several recent examples where top gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi or multi-millionaire/conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar were found using cell phones to commit serious crimes.
It is not just the cell phone, the inmates have been umpteen times found with improvised weapons which they use to murder or cause grievous injury to any rival inmate. The latest example was the brutal murder of Delhi’s top gangster Sunil alias Tillu Tajpuriya.
No lessons learnt?
On May 2, 2023, three weeks after gangster Prince Tewatia was stabbed to death by a rival gang in Tihar Jail, Sunil ‘Tillu’ Tajpuria, was killed in his ward in a bloodbath lasting 15-20 minutes with scarce intervention from jail staff
Tajpuria had been shifted to Tihar just two weeks ago from Mandoli jail. The attackers were strangely lodged on the first floor of the ward. The assailants - Yogesh Tunda, Deepak Teetar, Riyaz Khan and Rajesh Bawania - cut open the security grilles, and then in a scene straight out of the movie, they used bedsheets to rappel down from the first floor
The cutting of grilles escaped the attention of security personnel. Sharpened iron parts were also kept ready, as per sources. The assailants seemed to have consumed an intoxicant and were awake after midnight
On May 11, Delhi Prisons Department ordered the transfer of 99 officials to other jails in the city amid security concerns at Tihar jail
On May 26, eighty more Delhi Prisons officials of Delhi Prisons, including five deputy superintendents, were transferred to three jail complexes