Three witnesses in Ankit Gujjar death case kept under CCTV surveillance, Tihar jail informs Delhi HC

Three witnesses in the Ankit Gujjar death case are kept under CCTV surveillance, informed the Tihar Jail authorities to the Delhi High Court on Monday.

In an affidavit filed by the Director-General of Prisons Tihar, the Court was informed that three witnesses in the Ankit Gujjar death case are kept under CCTV surveillance and officials are closely monitoring the footage 24x7.

The affidavit further said that two undertrials, who are witnesses in the case and currently out on interim bail, will be so kept under CCTV surveillance after they surrender.

The affidavit was filed on the plea seeking protection to witnesses in the undertrial Ankit Gujjar death case.

The plea was filed by five persons through advocate Mehmood Pracha and Shariq Nisar seeking to ensure the safety and security of the petitioners, who are witnesses in inmate Ankit Gujjar death, inside the jail and to further restrain the said respondents from threatening/coercing/injuring them with a view to preventing them from seeking justice for themselves and the deceased inmate.

According to the petition, petitioners are all inmates of prisons and are eyewitnesses to the alleged murder of one Ankit Gujjar, deceased, by jail officials, inside Central Jail on August 3 2021.

Two of them were the co-inmates of the deceased in his cell and are therefore witnesses to the entire incident, the petition said. While one of the petitioners was an inmate in another ward and was witness to the public beating of the deceased by jail officials which took place at the Chakker.

Rest two are 'sevadars' in the jail and had also consequently witnessed the entire sequence of events leading up to the death of Ankit Gujjar, the petition said.

According to the petition, two petitioners are currently out on bail in their respective cases granted by this Court. However, on expiry of their interim bail, they will be required to go back to the same prison and will yet again be at the mercy of Respondent officials and, hence, they have been constrained to approach this Court, ensuring their safety inside the jail.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court has transferred the probe into undertrial prisoners Ankit Gujjar's death case in Tihar jail to CBI.

( With inputs from ANI )

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