Director General of Tihar Jail Sandeep Goel has been transferred to the police headquarters, according to an official order. Sanjay Beniwal, Special Commissioner (perception management and media cell), will take over as the new DG of prison at Tihar jail.
The move comes within days of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar writing an explosive letter to Delhi LG VK Saxena, claiming that he had paid crores to incarcerated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain and Goel as "protection money" and that he was harassed and threatened in jail.
Sukesh has been lodged in Tihar jail in the national capital since 2017 in connection with cheating and money laundering. In his letter, the conman alleged that he had already paid Rs 50 crore to AAP and was promised an important post in the party in South Zone and Rajya Sabha nomination following the expansion of Arvind Kejriwal's party.
In his complaint, Sukesh said he was frequently visited by Jain and his close friend Sushil in jail. He was asked to pay Rs 2 crore every month as protection money to stay safe in jail and also get basic facilities, he alleged.
“He (Jain) asked me to pay Rs 1.50 crore to DG prison Sandeep Goel, who he said was a loyal associate of his,” Sukesh said in the letter.
The letter claimed that Goel had received Rs 12.5 crore in total from the conman.
Sukesh said he had informed the Enforcement Directorate about the “racket run by DG and jail administration” during a recent investigation and also appealed to the Delhi High Court seeking CBI an inquiry. The case is due to be heard next month.
He claimed that Jain was lodged in Jail-7 in Tihar and was constantly asking him through Goel and jail administration to withdraw the complaint filed in the high court.
“I have been severely harassed and threatened,” Sukesh said.
