29-year-old Tihar Jail inmate found dead, former cellmates injured

NEW DELHI: A 29-year-old Tihar Jail inmate was found dead inside his cell while two of his former cellmates, who were lodged in an adjacent lockup, were found injured on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The deceased inmate, gangster Ankit Gujjar, was involved in several criminal cases including killing of a BJP leader.

The injured inmates, Gurjeet Singh (22) and his brother Gurpreet Singh (22), were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital here, they said.

Police said statements of the two injured inmates are yet to be recorded and an investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events.

According to Tihar officials, the three were lodged in the same cell till Tuesday night when they had a fight with the jail staff after a mobile phone was found from outside their cell.

The jail staff then shifted Gujjar to another cell from where his body was recovered on Wednesday morning.

In a separate enquiry being conducted by jail officials, they are probing the role of a deputy superintendent of police in connection with Gujjar's death as his family has alleged that he was beaten to death by some jail officials.

Director General (Delhi Prisons) Sandeep Goel said Gujjar was found dead in his cell in Central Jail No. 3 of Tihar.

He was involved in several cases including those of murder and robbery, he said.

According to prison officials, Gujjar had been in jail several times and was lodged at Tihar for more than a year now.

A senior police officer said, "We got a call around 9.15 am about the death of jail inmate Ankit Gujjar, a resident of Khela village in Uttar Pradesh's Bhaghpat, who was arrested in a 2019 murder case that was registered at Saket Police Station. He was previously found involved in 18 cases."

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Prashant Gautam said, "Inquest proceedings are being conducted in the matter by the metropolitan magistrate. Action will be taken as per the inquest report and the post-mortem report of Gujjar."

Police said they are also looking into allegations levelled by the victim's family accusing jail officials of demanding Rs 10,000 as "protection money" from Gujjar and later threatening him when he refused to pay.

A senior police officer said, "The victim's family has been asked to submit their allegations in a written format and a meeting between them and the metropolitan magistrate, who is conducting the inquest proceedings in the matter as part of the ongoing investigation, will be arranged."

According to police, they received a complaint from the jail staff on duty at around 1.30 am that the three inmates had engaged in a fight with the jail officials after a mobile phone was seized from outside their cell.

On further checking, a mobile phone charger and an improvised knife was recovered from inside their cell.

After the fight, Gujjar was shifted to a separate cell while the brother duo stayed back in the same cell.

On Wednesday morning, Gujjar was found dead inside his cell and police were informed, the senior police officer said.

Police said Gurpreet, a resident of Dakshin Puri here, was arrested in 2018 in a murder case along with his brother Gurjeet.

Gurpreet is involved in five criminal cases while his brother is involved in three, they said.

Gujjar, who belongs to Sunder Bhati gang, was arrested from Greater Noida along with three others in connection with the murder of BJP leader Vijay Pandit in 2014.

Pandit was shot dead by four persons including Gujjar in Dabri on the night of June 7, 2014, according to police.