Undertrial hangs himself, Tihar official he named questioned

In the note, the victim claimed he was depressed as he had been implicated in a “false murder case”. “A Tihar official was harassing me for the last three months and demanding money. He was torturing me because I worked as a sewadar and always threatened to implicate me in a false case — of carrying cellphones or blades. He threatened to shift me to the Kasuri ward if I did not fulfil his demands. On July 24-25 night, seven other inmates thrashed me badly. They wanted me to hide their cellphone, but I refused,” the note alleges.

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In the note, the victim claimed that some weeks ago, he had written to the Tihar Director-General, requesting him to put him in a separate cell, but that the letter was opened by the official harassing him and no action was taken on his complaint. “The Tihar official has threatened a blade attack on me. Mother, I am very depressed,” the note says.

The police said the 32-year-old inmate was arrested from Jaffarpur Kalan in 2012 in a murder case. “He was in Jail No. 1 but, on August 3, he was shifted to the Kasuri ward. The suicide came to light on August 4 at around 5.30 am when jail officials opened the door of the ward. They found the inmate hanging,” a police officer said.

Sources told The Indian Express that three persons — two jail officials and one doctor — had first visited the crime spot. They informed the police at around 10.30 am that day after making a PCR call and police personnel from the Hari Nagar police station then reached the crime spot. “As it was a case of suicide, a magisterial inquiry was ordered and Metropolitan Magistrate Dhirendra Rana was called. After arriving at the spot, they examined the cell and found the carbon copy of the suicide note on the victim’s bedsheet,” the officer said.

Investigation has revealed that Rana and the investigating officer had quizzed Tihar officials, especially the official of the jail concerned, about the sudden decision to shift Sandeep to the Kasuri ward and the original copy of the suicide note. However, the jail officials could not give satisfactory answers. Rana left with the copy of the suicide note, the police said.

DIG (Prisons) Mukesh Prasad said, “We cannot comment on this matter as a magisterial inquiry is on. We came to know of a lot of things through the media, but we will take appropriate action after we get the report.”

Meanwhile, DCP (West) Pushpendra Kumar said a case had been registered under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 of the IPC.