Security arrangements in and around the Tihar Jail Complex in West Delhi were tightened after underworld don Chhota Rajan was lodged in Jail No. 2 on Thursday. He was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody by the court.
“The jail authorities have been asked to tighten vigil in the area and maintain maximum security. A team of 10 head warders, 10 warders, one deputy superintendent and two assistant superintendents has been selected for the purpose from different jails,” a senior prison official said, adding, “The D-G has also briefed the staff and warned that no breach of security will be tolerated.”
Rajan was on Thursday brought to the high-security Tihar jail after being sent to 14 days judicial custody by court as the CBI decided to take over all the 71 cases registered by the Maharashtra police against him. “Rajan has furnished the names of his wife and a friend in Mumbai in his visitors’ list,” the official said. The ITBP and CRPF, which take care of the security outside the prison, have increased their surveillance to ensure that nothing is smuggled to him in the jail premises.
Deported after being on the run for 27 years, the 55-year-old gangster, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was remanded to CBI custody in connection with his passport procured on a fake identity.
Rajan, once a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, has been brought to the country to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai. After his arrest in Bali on October 25, India had pressed for his early deportation. After being brought to India, he was kept at the CBI headquarters at Lodhi Road under strict security arrangements. Due to high threat to his life, the Delhi police had blocked a few roads ar-ound the agency headquarters to thwart any untoward incident. “We expect the same security arrangements inside Tihar jail as well,” said an official.
