2 medical staffers, one Dy SP found negligent, HC informed

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was informed on Thursday by Tihar jail authorities here that the jail doctor, who had examined gangster Ankit Gujjar hours before he died in custody, was found to be negligent — as a result of which the doctor's appointment as a junior resident on a contract had been cancelled.

Director-General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel informed the high court of this development while the court was hearing a plea for a CBI inquiry into the suspicious death of Gujjar in prison while he was awaiting trial in a case.

Gujjar, 29, was found dead inside Tihar Jail after a fight allegedly broke out between him and some prison officials in jail number 3. His body was found within hours of the fight in a separate jail. His family has alleged that jail officials murdered him for refusing to pay them protection money.

The high court was informed that the prisons department's inquiries had found misconduct on the part of another medical officer, the report on which had been forwarded to the Delhi Health Department for necessary action. The report said this medical officer had failed to "supervise the duty doctor medical staff in providing necessary medical aid to the injured inmate who ultimately died".

In addition, the court was also told that Deputy Superintendent Vinay Thakur had been lax in executing his duties and was also found negligent and hence department action against him is being processed.

As for increasing security in the prisons and protecting witnesses to the alleged fight, the D-G prisons in his reply to the court said that 6,994 new CCTV cameras had been installed across jails and the recordings are stored in two different locations for security.

The court had allowed a CBI probe in the death of Gujjar under mysterious circumstances in September, following which the central probe agency has examined 27 witnesses, including 11 inmates in the case. The CBI, replying to the court, said that they are looking into UPI payments made by Gujjar's brother to look into the allegation that jail officials were collecting protection money from inmates. They added that they were waiting for Paytm to respond to their queries in this regard.

Two Assistant Superintendents (Deepak Dabas and Balraj), one Deputy Superintendent (Narender Meena) and Warder Shiva had been suspended after the death. The CBI has also added that a witness has disclosed delivering cash to one jail official on behalf of Gujjar, adding that they are pursuing this lead for further evidence now.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha had argued for Gujjar's family in the case for transferring the case to the CBI, following which Justice Mukta Gupta had allowed the plea saying this was a serious matter.