ED says Sukesh paid protection money to Tihar jail officials

Tihar officials were paid hefty sums of money to allow Sukesh Chandrasekhar, who faces multiple cases of cheating people, to carry out his activities in prison and get facilities like a separate ward, mobile phones and protection from surveillance, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said in charge sheet filed against three jail officials.

The federal agency on April 6 filed a fourth supplementary charge sheet in connection with its probe into Chandrasekhar, naming former jail superintendent Sunder Bora, deputy superintendent Mahender Prasad Sundriyal, and assistant superintendent Dharam Singh Meena. They all were posted in Rohini prison (which is part of Tihar prison) and were arrested by the ED on February 7.

A court took cognizance of the charge sheet, seen by HT, on Tuesday.

In its charge sheet, the ED, citing Chandrasekhar’s statement, said he was paying monthly “protection money” to Tihar officials ranging from ₹25 lakh for assistant superintendents to ₹2 crore at the top.

Chandrasekhar, 33, is involved in at least 32 criminal cases across Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and other states, and is currently being probed by multiple agencies, including the Delhi Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED for cheating, money laundering, and extorting money from high-profile people.

Between 2020 and early 2021, when he was in Delhi’s Rohini jail, he allegedly pulled off a ₹200 crore heist by duping jailed industrialist Shivinder Mohan’s wife Aditi Singh, posing as the Union law secretary and calling her with an offer to bail her jailed husband. He is also accused of impersonating a high-ranking official in the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

ED has already filed five charge sheets in its probe linked to him.

In the April 6 charge sheet, the ED said the main duty of Meena was to look after inmates, their conduct inside jail, to create their own intelligence with the help of other officers, regular visits to the cells and barracks, and if something adverse is found, he was required to file complaint against such inmate.

“However, he, in collusion with other jail officials, facilitated in providing extraordinary and unauthorised facilities to Chandrasekhar,” the charge sheet said. For example, Meena facilitated the use of internet and mobile phones to Chandrasekhar.

Citing Chandrasekhar’s statement, ED said he had paid ₹50-60 lakh to three assistant superintendents including Meena.

“The amounts were always collected by Dharam Singh Meena from Deepak Ramnani (an associate of Chandrasekhar) on his instructions and thereafter, Meena used to distribute the money to the jail staff; and the coordination for pick-up by Meena used to happen in jail directly face to face and through WhatsApp on his phone...” the charge sheet said, quoting Chandrasekhar’s statement.

The ED probe has revealed that Meena bought a flat in Rohini at a registered value of ₹54 lakh, but the market value of the apartment is around ₹90-95 lakh, and thus “it can be inferred that the remaining amount of ₹40 lakh have been given in cash by Meena from proceeds of crime”.

Meena was also using cash for his daily household expenses and even for paying his children’s school fees, the charge sheet said.

Sundriyal, ED said, was also involved in the conspiracy to provide facilities to Chandrasekhar, who told the federal agency that he was paying ₹25 lakh per month to the officer. ED found that cash worth over ₹14 lakh was deposited by Sundriyal in the accounts of his wife and two children in 2020-21 but when they were questioned, they had no idea about the money.

About Bora, ED has stated that he was responsible for the functioning of CCTVs but didn’t take any action when it was reported by a jail staff that the focus of CCTV installed in Chandrasekhar’s cell was covered by a curtain as well as a carton of water bottles.

Citing Chandrasekhar’s statement, ED said Bora was paid ₹1.5 crore in 2020-21 for a period of five-six months, adding that there were no cash withdrawals from the accounts of Bora, his wife and children even for daily household expenses such as clothing, food, kitchen etc, which means he was in possession of proceeds of crime in cash.