Exposing chinks in the security of Tihar Jail, gangster Tillu Tajpuriya was brutally killed early on Tuesday allegedly by four members of the notorious Gogi gang who cut two iron grilles of the high-security prison and stabbed him “40-50 times”, officials said.
Tajpuriya, an accused in the 2021 Rohini court shootout in which gangster Jitender Gogi was killed, was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in an unconscious state where he was declared brought dead.
The assailants, who were identified as Deepak alias Titar, Yogesh alias Tunda, Rajesh and Riyaz Khan, used bed sheets to climb down to Tajpuriya’s ground floor ward from the first floor around 6.15 am and attacked him.
Prison officials said they suspect that they had cut the two grilles installed on the first floor and placed them there to avoid suspicion. Before the attack, they only had to remove the grilles and climb down. The attack happened when the cells were opened for counting of the inmates, they added.
Later, it came to light that when Tajpuriya saw the attackers, he ran to the cell of a fellow inmate, named Rohit, who tried to shield him by closing the gate of his cell. However, the cell not be locked from inside and they barged into the cell and in the process, Rohit too got injured, sources said.The whole attack happened within two minutes, they added. Officials said they were planning to shift the four assailants to a different jail.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Akshat Kaushal said police received information about the incident around 7 am.
This was the second incident in which a prisoner was killed inside the Tihar Jail within a month.
On April 14, Prince Tewatia (33), an associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was killed similarly in an early-morning attack inside the jail by rival gang members following an altercation with an inmate. An under-trial prisoner, he was lodged in ward no. 6 of the jail no. 3 which has around 380 inmates.
Prison officials claimed they were improving security inside the high-risk jail and carrying out intensive searches in wards for improvised weapons and other illegal items, such as mobile phones, after the Tewatia incident.
They were also maintaining a “strict vigil” through CCTV cameras.
On the other hand, in an unverified social media post, gangster Satinder Singh Brar alias Goldy Brar, who is said to be hiding in Canada, claimed the attack on Tajpuriya was for revenge.
In September 2021, gangster Gogi was shot dead by two assailants dressed as lawyers inside the Rohini court complex. Later, the assailants were killed in retaliatory firing by the police.