New Delhi: Jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar has stirred the proverbial hornet’s nest by writing to Delhi L-G VK Saxena alleging he paid Rs 10 crore to incarcerated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain as “protection money” and is being “threatened and harassed” by the minister. Reacting to the letter, AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to rely on a conman, as you say he is, shows their sorry state in Gujarat”. The BJP, on the other hand, has lashed out at the party, calling it corrupt.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated a probe into the claims.
Contents of the letter
In the letter, Chandrashekhar claimed that he knew the AAP leader since 2015. He alleged that he paid AAP Rs 50 crore on the promise of an important party position in the south zone. Chandrashekhar claimed he had disclosed the payments made to Jain, the AAP and also D-G Prisons, to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team last month and also filed a petition in Delhi High Court seeking a CBI enquiry. According to him, Jain has been threatening him, asking to withdraw the complaint.
“During investigation, although it had come to light that senior jail officials had taken bribe/protection money from Sukesh, but these facts (related to bribe/protection money to Jain) are absolutely new. The ED has taken the allegations very seriously, and will investigate the matter to core. The ED will shortly question Sukesh Chandrashekhar in the matter,” said the ED.
Chandrashekhar is lodged in Delhi’s Mandoli jail in a case of extorting high-profile people and celebrities. Earlier, he was lodged in Tihar Jail but was shifted after his repeated requests. He had claimed that he received death threats from Tihar jail. Jain, meanwhile, is in Tihar jail in connection with a money-laundering case.
“After my arrest in 2017 for the two leaf symbol corruption case, I was lodged in Tihar Jail and was visited by Mr. Satyendar Jain, who holds the Portfolio of Jail min, multiple times, asking me if I had disclosed anything related to my contribution to AAP to the investigating agency which arrested me. Thereafter in 2019 again I was visited by Satyender Jain and his Secretary and his close friend Mr. Sushil in Jail, and asking me to pay Rs. 2 Crores every month to him as protection money to live safely in Jail, and to get even basic facility provided,” the letter stated.
Kejriwal has said the letter has been engineered as a ploy to divert attention from the Morbi tragedy in Gujarat ahead of the state elections.
Speaking to CNN-News18 over the phone, Chandrashekhar’s lawyer AK Singh said: “The concerns raised in the letter are grave in nature. After this letter to the L-G, a probe was ordered against 82 jail officials. My client had a complaint to file and we did that …We want an independent probe… I have an objection to my client being called ‘conman’.”
Jain is being given special treatment inside Tihar Jail, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a special Delhi court in an affidavit. The ED has submitted CCTV footage that shows an unknown person giving a foot, and body massage to Jain inside his cell in the presence of three other unknown persons. The unknown masseuse also delivers some documents to and from the accused petitioner in a suspicious/clandestine manner.
