Gangster Tillu Tajpuriya killed inside Delhi’s Tihar jail; NHRC seeks report from govt, DG prison

Hours after the killing of jailed gangster Tillu Tajpuriya on Tuesday inside the Tihar Jail, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the Delhi government and the director general of prisons, seeking a report within four weeks.

The rights body said the report should include steps taken or proposed to be taken to ensure the safety of prisoners inside the Tihar Jail so that such violent and fatal incidents do not recur in the future.

The NHRC said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that an under-trial prisoner was killed and another injured in an attack by other inmates at the jail.

Tajpuriya was killed early Tuesday inside Tihar Jail by members of the Gogi gang who allegedly cut the iron grille of his high-security ward and attacked him with an improvised sharp object, police officials said.

Tajpuriya, an accused in the 2021 Rohini court shootout case where gangster Jitender Gogi was allegedly shot dead, suffered multiple stab injuries. He was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in an unconscious state where he was declared brought dead, they said.

The NHRC said the attackers reportedly cut open the grille of the first floor of the ward and jumped onto the ground floor using bedsheets to attack the undertrial prisoner.

On April 14 also, an undertrial prisoner was killed and four others were injured in the fight between rival gangs in Tihar Jail after which the maximum security prison was reportedly put on high alert, it said in a statement.

The Commission said the contents of a media report, if true, amount to gross negligence on the part of the jail administration resulting in violation of jail inmates’ human rights, which do not stop at the prison gates.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Delhi, and the director general of prisons of Delhi, seeking a detailed report in the matter within four weeks, the statement said. (With inputs from PTI)