The killing of a second gangster in less than a month inside the Tihar jail here has once again put a serious question mark on the security at one of the largest prisons in Asia despite officials claiming they were implementing a detailed plan to avoid such incidents.
Sunil alias Tillu Tajpuriya (33), lodged on the ground floor of the high-security prison, was killed by members of the Gogi gang with an improvised weapon around 6.15 am on Tuesday. The four attackers, lodged on the first floor, cut the iron grille installed there and used bed sheets to climb down to Tajpuriya’s floor. Tajpuriya suffered multiple stab wounds and was declared dead by doctors at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, officials said.
On 14 April 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.
Officials claimed they were 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.
Asked how an incident like this has happened again, a jail official said the attack was completed within one-and-a-half minute and the assailants exploited “dark spots”, where no cameras could see, to enter Tajpuriya’s cell.
