New Delhi: Days after alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar claimed he had paid “protection money” to jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain and Director General (DG) Prisons Sandeep Goel in 2019, the cop has now been transferred.
An order issued Friday by the Delhi Government’s Home Department says that the 1989 AGMUT cadre officer Goel will report to “Police Headquarters for further orders”.
The order, which ThePrint has accessed, also says that Sanjay Beniwal, also a 1989-batch officer of the AGMUT cadre, will replace Goel as DG Prisons.
Officials of the Delhi government didn’t respond to ThePrint’s questions on whether the transfer order was issued because of the allegation.
ThePrint reached Sandeep Goel via text and phone calls but had not received a response at the time of publication. This report will be updated when a response is received.
In a letter to Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chandrasekhar, who was arrested in 2017, claimed he had paid AAP’s Jain Rs 10 crore in 2019 as “protection money” in order to live safely inside Delhi’s Mandoli jail and get access to basic facilities. He also claimed that he paid Rs 12.50 crore to Goel for the same.
A copy of the letter is with ThePrint.
Jain was arrested on 30 May on allegations of money laundering.
In 2021, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Delhi Police saying that Chandrasekhar had cheated her of Rs 200 crore by posing as a government official who could help with her husband’s cases.
Shivinder Singh has been in Tihar jail since October 2019 in connection with a Rs 2,397-crore money laundering case.
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‘Promised important post in party, nomination to RS’
In his letter, Chandrasekhar wrote that he had known Jain since 2015 and had even contributed over Rs 50 crore to the AAP.
Jain, who holds important Delhi government portfolios, including home and health ministries, is currently lodged in Mandoli jail in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In his letter, Chandrasekhar went on to claim that AAP had promised to give him an “important post in the party in the South Zone” and said it would also “help him to be nominated to Rajya Sabha following the expansion”.
He alleged he was visited by Jain, along with his secretary and a close friend, inside the prison in 2019.
“Also, he asked me to pay Rs 12.50 crore to DG Prison Sandeep Goel, who, he said, was his loyal associate,” the letter said.
The letter also said he had disclosed these details during questioning in September and had also filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his allegations.
Allegations of money being paid to Tihar officials
This is not the first time that allegations have been made of a nexus between inmates and jail administration.
Last year, the Delhi Police launched an investigation after the ED informed the Supreme Court that Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra were running an “underground” office in south Delhi from inside the jail. The ED, which submitted a status report dated 16 August, 2021, said “witnesses in the case were being influenced and proceeds of crime dissipated in order to derail the investigation”.
Exclusive access to an official landline phone for “unhindered private conversations”, money dealings, outside food, unlimited time outside the prison cell, regular exchange of pen drives, business documents, and flow of cash from inside the prison were given to the Chandras, the report said.
Following the submission of the report, Delhi Police’s crime branch registered a case against 32 Tihar jail officials.
According to sources, the call detail record (CDR) analysis of the 32 officers working inside jail No. 7 of Tihar, accessed by the police during probe, revealed that they were in constant touch with Ravinder — an employee of Chandras — via calls and WhatsApp chats and took money to extend “undue favours” to his employers.
The ED probing a money laundering case against Chandresekhar has also said in its chargesheet that he had paid large sums of money to officials at Tihar, where he has also spent time, for facilities.
Chandrasekhar allegedly had a separate barrack inside the jail where he met visitors, had access to outside food and made several phone calls, including video calls to Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez from inside Tihar.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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