High-security cell, 24-hour watch, to be escorted within prison: How Tihar Jail is trying to keep Anmol Bishnoi safe from rivals

While Anmol is the younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi —who has been lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail since 2023 —members of Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara gangs, associates of gangsters Neeraj Bawana, Himanshu Bhau, Kaushal and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, as well as members of the Bambiha group, are lodged in Tihar Jail. Ensuring Anmol’s security in Tihar is therefore a major challenge, said sources.

In May 2023, gangster Tillu Tajpuria was murdered inside Tihar Jail 8 – a high-risk ward – by members of the rival Jitender Gogi gang.

According to sources in Tihar Jail, Anmol has been kept in a double gated 9×15-ft cell, where high-security prisoners are housed. While CCTV cameras have been installed in his cell, two security personnel – a warder and a member of the Tamil Nadu Special Police (TNSP) – have been deployed outside it. The security personnel escort him inside the jail as well when he has to attend video conferences, legal interviews or meet family members.

Due to the threat, all of Anmol’s court hearings are expected to be conducted through video conferencing. Sources said that Anmol stays alone in his cell, which is located in a ward equipped with the facility of video conferencing. A sewadaar provides him food inside the cell so that he does not have to face other inmates, a source said, adding that he is allowed to meet family members or lawyers twice a week and to speak on the phone once a day, as per jail rules.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued a notification stating that Anmol must remain confined in Tihar Jail and cannot be moved to any other state for cases pending against him for one year since he is facing “serious and credible” threat.

Earlier, Anmol had informed the court that he faced threats from rival gang members and a Pakistan-based gangster, following which the court had decided to conduct the proceedings via video conferencing while he was in NIA’s custody. Anmol faces 31 criminal cases across India, including in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

Recently, Tihar Jail had reconstructed some wards and barracks in jails 4 and 7 to house notorious criminals and white collar fugitives extradited from foreign countries as per Nelson Mandela Rules. Though Bishnoi has not been kept in one of these wards.

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, popularly known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, have laid down the objectives of open prisons stating that such jails provide no physical security against escape but rely on the self-discipline of the inmates and provide the conditions most favourable to the rehabilitation of carefully selected prisoners.