Role of 82 jail staff in Delhi under lens

NEW DELHI: Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Wednesday gave his approval to the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police to probe 82 officials of the prison department under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for their alleged involvement in an organised crime syndicate being run by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar from the Rohini Jail.

When contacted, a senior EOW officer said, “Every time we tried to probe those 82 prison officials, the EOW had to encounter certain legal bottlenecks, putting a question mark on whether they can be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act or not. Finally, we put a proposal to the LG’S office and acting swiftly on it, he approved it.”

The officer further said that EOW had apprised the LG office that during investigation of this case, seven officers have been arrested for facilitating the extortion racket being run by Chandrashekhar. “It was also revealed during investigation that another 82 prison officials were allegedly involved in facilitating the extortion syndicate in Rohini Jail,” the officer said.

Officials in the LG’S office said that at the time of the alleged offence, the prison department portfolio had been under Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, who is currently incarcerated in connection with a money laundering case. AAP spokespersons did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Chandrashekhar, who is currently lodged in Mandoli jail, is an accused in many cases, including that of extorting ₹200 crore while serving prison time from Aditi Singh -- the wife of jailed former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh -- by posing as an official from the Union law ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), on the pretext of getting her husband out on bail.