The murder was allegedly carried out by four members of slain gangster Jitender Gogi‘s gang early Tuesday morning. Gogi had been killed by Tajpuria’s shooters at the Rohini court complex in 2021.
Fugitive Goldy Brar – whom the Canadian government has put on its list of 25 most wanted persons – claimed responsibility for the killing on Facebook. Brar and Bishnoi had joined hands with the Gogi gang in 2020-21 to share resources and manpower.
In the unprecedented incident that again puts the spotlight on the state of affairs in Tihar, Tajpuria was stabbed over 100 times with improvised ‘sua’ (weapon resembling an awl) around 6.15am. The frenzied men didn’t stop even after Tajpuria was dead and covered with a bedsheet by security personnel.
Tajpuria had been shifted to Tihar just two weeks ago from Mandoli jail. The attackers were strangely lodged on the first floor of the ward. The assailants – Yogesh Tunda, Deepak Teetar, Riyaz Khan and Rajesh Bawania – cut open the security grilles, and then in a scene straight out of the movies, they used bedsheets to rappel down from the first floor.
The spate of violent incidents in one of India’s top high-security prisons clearly indicates that its administrative system is rotten to the core and urgently needs an overhaul. The government should immediately get down to the task in order to avoid something worse in the future.
Rivals were lodged on same floor of high-security ward
The assailants then surrounded Tajpuria, who was taken by surprise, before going on a stabbing spree. Sources confirmed that security personnel had arrived soon after but did not intervene promptly. Tajpuria was rushed to DDU Hospital but was declared dead.
Police investigation has revealed that the assailants had started planning the murder a week ago, soon after Tajpuria’s arrival. They apparently feared that Tajpuria had arrived to kill Deepak Boxer, brought last month from Mexico to Delhi and who was to return to Tihar from police custody next week.
The grilles were cut a few days ago and strangely this escaped the attention of security personnel. The sharpened iron parts were also readied last week, sources said. The assailants seemed to have consumed some sort of an intoxicant late on Monday and were awake after midnight waiting for dawn to strike, knowing that security was lax at that time.
Rajesh Bawania was the first to scale down from the first floor. Another gangster, Manjeet Mahal, sensed danger and pushed Bawania aside. Just then, the other three men scaled down and caught hold of Tajpuria who tried to fight back. Tajpuria found support from another inmate, Rohit Rohtash, a member of the Manoj Morkheri gang but Tunda stabbed him as well and he fell on the floor.
Apart from Mahal, the mayhem was witnessed by two other gangsters, namely Sonu Dariyapur and Pradeep Solanki, but they refrained from intervening after being threatened by Tunda and his associates.
Hearing the commotion, a havildar reached the spot but was asked to stay away as well. Tajpuria then ran inside with Rohit and shut himself inside a small chakki (cell) in the ward.
However, Tunda and Khan stabbed the two in the fingerswhich made them lose their grip and the gate opened. The assailants then dragged Tajpuria out and stabbed him on every part of the body, starting with the eyes and face.
In the next 10 minutes, around a dozen personnel from Tamil Nadu Special Police landed at the spot and called for a white sheet to cover the body. The sequence of events has been captured by a high-density camera installed in the ward, an officer said.
Tunda and Khan, a member of the ‘Chavanni’ gang, were apprehensive that Tajpuria may still be alive. So, they removed the bedsheet and stabbed him over a dozen times again. They then got tired and sat on the floor and screamed “Le ja ise” (Take him away), a source said. The security personnel then did exactly that.
The Hari Nagar police later filed an FIR and will move court for the arrest of the four attackers. CCTV footage of the incident has been obtained and the statement of the jail superintendent taken. DG Tihar Sanjay Baniwal has ordered an inquiry and the Delhi government has also initiated a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The inmates of rival gangs are being identified and segregated to avoid a rerun of the incident.
Tight security was in place to avoid any clashes. The postmortem was performed by a panel of three doctors and the entire process was videographed. In the morning, Tillu’s relatives had arrived and were properly frisked by the cops before being taken to aroom for identifying the body.
Watch Gangster Tillu Tajpuriya, accused in Rohini court shootout, killed by rival gang in Tihar jail