Incarcerated gangster Tillu Tajpuria, who was killed by four inmates -- said to be members of the notorious Jitender Gogi gang, on early Tuesday morning inside Delhi's Tihar Jail, was stabbed around 50 times by his assailants, an official said.
The attackers are reportedly members of the notorious Jitender Gogi gang.
Sunil a.k.a. Tillu Tajpuria (33), a resident of Tajpur Kalan on the outskirts of Delhi, who had a history of criminal activities, was lodged in Tihar Jail under tight security measures.
Gangster Satinder Singh Brar, also known as Goldy Brar -- believed to be in hiding in Canada, has claimed responsibility for the attack on Tajpuria, citing revenge, according to an unverified social media post.
"Hello everyone, our brothers Yogesh Tunda and Deepak Titar are responsible for the murder of Tillu Tajpuria in Tihar Jail on Tuesday. Tajpuria took responsibility for the loss of Gogi Maan bhai and had been an enemy of our brothers since the beginning. We will soon take care of others involved," the Facebook post read.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Akshat Kaushal said that information was received in Hari Nagar police station from Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) hospital that an undertrial prisoner was admitted to the hospital from Tihar Jail.
He was later declared brought dead in the DDU hospital.
During the enquiry, it was revealed that another undertrial prisoner, Rohit, was also injured in this incident and he was under treatment in DDU hospital.
"The prison staff revealed that Deepak a.k.a. Titar (31), Yogesh a.k.a. Gainda (30), Rajesh a.k.a. Tunda (42), and Riyaz Khan (39) had attacked Sunil@Tillu Tajpuriya with improvised knives and brutally stabbed him. When Rohit tried to intervene he was also attacked and injured," said Kaushal.
"The autopsy of the deceased has been conducted, a report of which is awaited. However, prima facie, it was found that the deceased had multiple stab wounds all over the body. Improvised knives used in the offence have been recovered from the accused," said the official.
Police have also registered a case under section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
As per prison officials, around 6.15 a.m., the attackers, Deepak, Yogesh, Rajesh, and Riyaz Khan, used bedsheets to climb down from the first floor to Tajpuriya's ground-floor ward when the cells were opened for the head-count of the inmates.
The prison officials suspect that the assailants had cut the two grilles installed on the first floor and placed them there to avoid suspicion.
Before the attack, they only had to remove the grilles and climb down using bedsheets.
Tillu Tajpuria, an accused in the 2021 Rohini court shootout in which gangster Jitender Gogi was killed, who was lodged on the ground-floor in highly secured jail number 8, upon seeing the attackers, attempted to flee to the cell of a fellow inmate, Rohit.
Rohit tried to shield himself by closing the cell gate but it could not be locked from inside, and the assailants barged in, injuring Rohit in the process.
"The entire attack took place within two minutes, and the staff and security personnel immediately caught the four attackers," said the prison official.
According to sources, an internal investigation has been initiated by the prison authorities.
"We are also looking into preventive measures to avoid such incidents in future. We have planned to shift the four assailants to a different jail, and an investigation has been launched into the incident," a source said.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety and security of high-profile prisoners in Tihar Jail.
