80 officers, 975 CCTVs: Tillu’s killing raises security concerns at country’s largest jail

Detailing the sequence of events, an official said that 33-year-old Tillu was roaming in his barracks when the four rivals pounced on him around 6 am in Jail No. 8, which has more than 80 stationed officers and 975 CCTVs. The jail, which has four blocks, houses more than 2,800 prisoners but sources in the jail and in Delhi Police told The Indian Express that only one guard was present on the premises during the incident. This guard, too, was busy with roll calls and releasing prisoners from their cells into the common area, said police.

When the guard was on the first floor, the accused allegedly used the improvised rope to get down to the ground floor. Police said the accused had “sharpened” their hand-made weapons over time and used these to kill Tillu.

A sequence of events while led to the murder of gangster Tillu Tajpuriya on Monday (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

“It wasn’t a simple murder. Tillu is one of the most dreaded gangsters in Delhi. Days before the incident, the accused cut a section of iron mesh (separating the two floors) but jail officials didn’t take notice of this,” said a police officer.

During police enquiry, it was also revealed that jail officials were present at the spot where the crime was being committed, said officers. “It is a case of gross negligence from the side of jail officials. While Tillu was being attacked, only one or two guards came after 5 minutes. They were also threatened. The accused managed to stab the gangster 90 times. This went on for 10 minutes. When more guards came in, the accused were asked to stop… but they again attacked the gangster 2-5 times,” said an investigating officer.

Director General (DG) Prisons Sanjay Beniwal didn’t respond to calls and messages seeking a comment. His office denied Delhi Police’s claims and said guards arrived in 6-8 minutes to stop the fight.

“We are conducting an enquiry. It also takes time for the information to pass from one gate to another or from the CCTV room to the jail gate…,” said an officer who refused to be named.

Jailed gangster Tillu Tajpuriya has been heading his gang for over a decade (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

Sunil Gupta, former law officer for Delhi prisons, said, “In case of lethargy or recklessness, the opposing gangs can attack each other. There should also be regular rotation of prisoners in different blocks so that groups can’t conspire and make weapons or use phones.”

The incident occurred days after another gangster Prince Tewatia was killed by fellow inmates inside jail number 3 with sharp-edged objects made with metal spoons and aluminium plates.

In August last year, a 20-year-old prisoner, Samir Khan, died of head injuries after a brawl with a fellow inmate. On March 3, 2021, one of UP’s most wanted criminals, Ankit Gujjar (29), was found dead inside Tihar’s jail number 3 after sustaining injuries allegedly due to a fight.

Senior jail officials said use of improvised knives and mobile phones by inmates inside jail has become a common occurrence. “Most of these illegal objects are either smuggled inside prison in connivance with officials or are thrown by aides or passersby from outside the jail into a landing spot on the premises. Almost a 100 such incidents were reported last year while around 20 incidents were reported this year,” said an officer