New Delhi:The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry into an extortion racket running from the Tihar Jail and other prisons in Delhi on the complaint of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, officials said Friday.
The CBI registered the preliminary enquiry on April 16 based on "source information", and it was handed over to the Anti Corruption Unit of the agency tasked to probe big ticket pan-India corruption cases, they said.
"Preliminary Investigation has started based on our complaint," Chandrashekar's lawyer Ashok Kumar Singh told PTI.
The preliminary enquiry is the first step to ascertain if the allegations have prima facie material to file a regular FIR.
Chandrashekar had filed a complaint with the CBI Director through his lawyer on March 11, 2022 alleging extortion and threat to life from the then Director General, Prisons Sandeep Goel, the officials said.
He had alleged that two senior prison officers, Goel and then AIG Mukesh Prasad, extorted Rs 12.5 crore from people close to him in various tranches between December 2019 and June 2022 in the name of providing protection and a comfortable stay, they said.
Chandrashekar alleged that he had revealed the extortion racket to Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police but no action was taken as the then DG of Prison had served as a senior official in the EOW.
In 2022, the Delhi High Court had also sought a response from the CBI on the allegations. The agency had said on November 17, 2022 that the Delhi EOW was probing the matter and the court may pass an order deemed fit.
In April 2024, the high court sought a response from the CBI about the status, to which the agency said it had registered a "preliminary enquiry" based on source information. It also mentioned the complaint filed by Chandrashekar and developments so far.
In a recent order, Justice Amit Sharma noted that the CBI has placed on record a status report which reflects that a preliminary enquiry has been initiated on the Chandrashekar's allegations.
