Tip-off from jail puts Tihar under lens

NEW DELHI: The state of affairs at Tihar Jail is under probe after it was found that the ruckus at Mandoli campus on Monday was reported to the cops by a person from the jail, who claimed a major brawl was taking place inside the prison complex in which more than a hundred people were injured.

The brawl, however, turned out to be a fight between two groups while the jail authorities were conducting a search of mobile phones kept at the barracks.

Police sources said the call was made from a number around 9.15am to the police control room, in which the caller claimed five people were killed in an attack. On probing, cops found that a brawl had indeed taken place at barrack number 12 in which five people were injured, one of whom has been admitted to a hospital.

The call was found to have come from within the prison premises and the number was found to be registered to one Sonu at an address in Rohini Sector IV . However, when he was traced down, Sonu told cops that his brother was earlier using his number but had recently got rid of the SIM. Efforts are being made to establish the identity of the present caller.

Tihar spokesperson, additional IG Rajkumar, said that surprise checks are being conducted in the jail to find out if an insider had made the call. “We will be able to comment on the source of the call only after the police enquiry is completed,” he said.

The cops became suspicious when the number was found to be switched off after the call. Jail authorities were asked to enquire about phones being operated from the prison premises. As per the norms, even jail wardens are not allowed to enter the premises with their mobile phones. The inmates who were injured in the incident too were being questioned.

Tihar authorities say that they were informed about the presence of mobile phones inside the premises recently, due to which searches were being conducted at the Mandoli jail for the past few weeks. The brawl had allegedly broken out between two inmates who accused each other of trying to blame each other for keeping a mobile phone inside the jail premises.