Conman Sukesh Bribed Rs 1.5 Crore A Month To Jail Staff, 82 Booked

The investigation has revealed that Sukesh Chandrashekhar used to bribe Rs1.5 crore to the officers or staff of Tihar Jail

New Delhi: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered a case against 82 employees of Tihar Jail during the investigation on corruption charges for taking bribes from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in Tihar Jail. The EOW started the investigation under the direction of the Supreme Court. The investigation has revealed that Sukesh Chandrashekhar used to bribe Rs 1.5 crore to the officers or staff of Tihar Jail.

According to the FIR accessed by ABP News, charges have been made under Section 7/8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act last month based on a complaint filed by ACP (EOW) Virender Sejwan, which mentioned the names of the accused and Sukesh.

The ACP noted that based on evidence, eight jail officials were arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, and they, in their confessional statement under section 18 of the same act, admitted they were aware of the syndicate. “Sukesh was paying Rs 1.5 crore every month for getting facilities to use mobile phones and a separate barrack without any hindrance. Based on documents, facts, and evidence collected during the probe, it came to the fore that the money was paid to all staff, irrespective of their duties, as bribe to ensure they remain silent,” he alleged in the FIR.

The FIR has been registered against 82 officers and employees of Tihar Jail who are accused of providing him with all comfort inside the jail. “The allegations were further corroborated by data retrieved from assistant superintendent Dharam Singh Meena’s phone. We have retrieved a handwritten page with the names of almost all employees of Rohini jail, and figures were written against each name. Meena also made it clear that jail officers were bribed regularly from extorted money received through Sukesh, and jail officials whose names were mentioned in the retrieved page were receiving bribes regularly,” the ACP stated in the FIR.

He said CCTV footage from various cameras inside the jail was collected, and the duty roster of staff and phone details were scanned. “CCTV footage from 10 cameras installed in Rohini jail from July 14 to August 14, 2021, was collected; these covered ward No. 3 and barrack No. 204 where Sukesh was lodged. It was found that… cameras in Sukesh’s barrack were completely blocked using curtains and mineral water bottle boxes. No action was taken to remove the object from the view of the camera…,” the ACP stated.

Chandrashekhar, who is accused of bribing Tihar jail officials to live in comfort with his spouse Leena, has sought transfer to a prison outside Delhi allegedly fearing threat from the prison officials who are under the scanner for favouring him and his wife inside the jail.

However, the Enforcement Directorate opposed his plea for prison transfer outside Delhi. The probe agency named several TV and Bollywood personalities with whom the 'conman' has contacts and used to give them expensive gifts. The Supreme Court declined to urgently hear a plea by Chandrashekhar to shift him out of Delhi’s Tihar jail due to alleged threats to his life.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar has been lodged in Tihar jail on charges of money laundering and duping several persons. The Delhi Police for the first time arrested him in 2017 for allegedly duping an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader of Rs2 crore on the pretext of helping him retain the party’s two leaves symbol by bribing Election Commission officers.

He is accused of duping high-profile individuals, including the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prison.