New Delhi: The suspended Tamil Nadu Special Police Force personnel who were posted in Tihar Jail and were present at the time of the alleged murder of gangster Sunil Balyan alias Tillu Tajpuriya were “criminally negligent”, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources in the Delhi Police, the seven suspended personnel said they “didn’t want to intervene” as they hadn’t been briefed properly on how to de-escalate such a situation inside the jail premises. Sources said that this is part of the report being prepared by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell which is probing the case.
Tajpuriya, sources confirmed, sustained over a 100 stab wounds according to the post-mortem report. The injuries were inflicted by four accused individuals believed to be members of rival gangs.
The case has been transferred to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and Tihar’s security lapses have been in the spotlight, especially after both Tajpuriya and Prince Tewatia were killed within a span of three weeks.
Gory CCTV visuals of the murder from 2 May revealed how the Tamil Nadu police watched the accused stab and hit an already motionless Tajpuriya inside the high security ward of South Asia’s largest prison complex.
“The Tamil Nadu police personnel were criminally negligent in the incident. Their behaviour and lack of immediate action led to the death of the inmate,” a senior police officer said, adding that the entire attack lasted between three to eight minutes and Tajpuriya was declared dead in the hospital. A staffer at Tihar was also injured while trying to stop the accused.
“There were no attempts made to stop the accused, to get the weapons released. When asked, the suspended Tamil Nadu police personnel said that they were waiting for instructions from the seniors. They basically didn’t want to intervene immediately and this has been a major lapse,” the officer added.
“The local staff at Tihar tried to intervene but there was hardly any support from the Tamil Nadu Police,” another senior police officer told ThePrint.
A senior police officer in Tamil Nadu Police told ThePrint, “We are looking into the matter. Those personnel were suspended and have been called back from the posting. Internal departmental enquiry is being done.”
Also read: Tillu Tajpuriya, ‘trigger-happy’ gangster killed in Tihar, wanted to be ‘Delhi’s biggest don’
‘Accused were planning Tajpuriya’s murder for long time’
According to sources, the accused had been plotting to assassinate Tajpuriya ever since Jitender Gogi, a rival gangster, was shot dead inside the Rohini court in 2021. Tajpuriya was suspected to be the mastermind behind the killing of Gogi. Following Gogi’s murder, a gangster based in Canada named Goldy Brar had claimed responsibility for the act. “Brar claimed responsibility but the accused — Yogesh Tonda, Deepak Titar, Rajesh Singh, and Riyaz Khan — had been planning it [to kill Tajpuriya] for a long time,” the first source said.
Investigation has revealed that the accused individuals took advantage of the opportunity when Tajpuriya was shifted from Mandoli Jail to Jail No. 8 in Tihar, about 10 days before his death. From that point on, the accused began fashioning improvised weapons. Sources also revealed that Tajpuriya had expressed “fear for his life” to the jail authorities on multiple occasions, “but it fell on deaf ears”.
Meanwhile Director General, Tihar, Sanjay Beniwal has written to Tamil Nadu Police asking them to take action against the now-suspended personnel and has been ensured departmental action against them.
About 1,500 Tamil Nadu Police personnel are posted in Tihar.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)