Shillong, October 11: Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor, V.K. Saxena, has given the green light for the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to investigate eight prison officials under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act.
This investigation is related to an alleged organized crime syndicate reportedly operated by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar from Rohini Jail.
As per IANS, the L-G’s approval paves the way for an inquiry into these eight jail officials, who are already under arrest and serve in Group B roles within Delhi Prisons. Notably, this approval comes in addition to a similar permission granted last year to investigate the involvement of 81 other jail officials in facilitating Sukesh for financial gains.
The officials now facing the probe include Sunil Kumar, Sunder Bora (both superintendents), Prakash Chand, Mahender Prasad Sundriyal, Subhash Batra (deputy superintendents), Dharam Singh Meena, Lakshmi Dutt, and Prakash Chand (assistant superintendents).
Investigations have revealed that Sukesh Chandrashekhar was allegedly paying around Rs 1.50 crore every month for various privileges, including the use of mobile phones and a dedicated barrack.
The jail officials under scrutiny have already been arrested under the provisions of MCOCA for allegedly facilitating Sukesh in running his organized crime activities, making his stay comfortable, and ensuring privacy for the use of mobile phones in exchange for financial gains.
Evidence collected from CCTV cameras, duty rosters, phone records, and the disclosures of the accused persons indicates that these staff members were deployed in Sukesh’s barrack to aid in his criminal activities.
The officials provided Sukesh with a separate barrack, a clear violation of prison regulations, and received pecuniary gains from Dharam Singh Meena on a regular basis.