Gangs of Delhi – CCTV shows Tihar cops let gangsters finish job
Fresh CCTV footage from Tihar Jail that surfaced on Friday shows at least 10 police personnel standing as mute spectators to the mayhem unleashed during the murder of gangster Sunil Tajpuria on Tuesday morning.
Indicating the scandalous state of affairs in Tihar, the footage shows the assailants removing a sheet covering Tajpuria – after he had been removed from the courtyard by cops and brought inside – and stabbing him repeatedly and kicking his almost lifeless body.
Not a single policeman from the group – belonging to Tamil Nadu Special Police – intervenes or shows any urgency to save Tajpuria.
This footage corroborates what TOI had first reported on Wednesday citing jail sources. It was reported that within 10 minutes, around a dozen personnel from TNSP had landed at the spot but did nothing. The Tihar administration is learnt to have suspended nine officers, including an assistant superintendent, till now.
The new footage shows a bleeding Tajpuria being wrapped in a sheet and dragged by three cops and a warder after he had already been stabbed over 50 times in the jail’s courtyard without any resistance. After bringing him in, the cops strangely keep the body on the ground and step back, even as the access door from the cell is open.
Another gangster, Manjeet Mahal, wearing white clothes, is seen explaining to the cops what had happened. Just then two of the assailants – Yogesh Tunda and Deepak Teetar – arrive and start stabbing Tajpuria again. Tunda is also seen asking a cop to move away.
A source said he warned the cops that they might also get hurt if they intervened. They are then joined by the other two assailants – Riyaz Khan and Rajesh Bawania. Till this time, Tajpuria’s body is showing some signs of life – a leg moves sideways – indicating he is badly hurt but alive. The assailants then take turns to stab the body and mostly hit the chest and neck area.
Sources said this was the preferred modus operandi in jail brawls to puncture the heart and ensure death. The killers are also seen jumping over the body and kicking it with their sports shoes.
The Tamil Nadu policemen wait for the killers to finish the job, and as Tunda screams, “le ja isey” (take him away), they move forward. The door to the cell is then closed and senior officials informed. The footage shows the body being dragged outside. It was subsequently sent to DDU Hospital for post-mortem.
The special cell is now probing the incident. It has come to fore that Tajpuria had been shifted to Tihar just two weeks ago from Mandoli jail. The attackers were strangely lodged on the first floor of the jail while Tajpuria was on the ground floor. The assailants had first cut open the security grilles over a period, and then used bedsheets to rappel down from the first floor and attack Tajpuria.
