Post row over corruption charge, former Tihar DG suspended

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New Delhi, December 22

Embroiled in a controversy after allegations of bribery by conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, senior IPS officer and the former Director-General (DG), Tihar Prison, Sandeep Goel, has been suspended by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for “dereliction of duties,” officials said today.

Goel, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of AGMUT cadre, was removed as Tihar DG last month and attached to the Delhi Police headquarters. In an order, the MHA said he had been suspended for “dereliction of duties” during his tenure as Tihar DG. No specific reason for the suspension was mentioned.

Goel was removed from the post after alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar claimed he had paid Rs 12.5 crore to the officer as “protection money”. Sukesh is lodged in Mandoli Jail in connection with a PMLA case. He claimed in a letter to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena that he had paid more than Rs 50 crore to the ruling AAP in Delhi for an “important” post in the party and another Rs 10 crore to jailed minister Satyendar Jain as “protection money”.

The allegations came soon after the ED claimed in court that Jain had met a witness in Tihar and had tried to tamper with evidence. Sukesh alleged that Jain, along with his secretary and confidant Sushil, had met him in prison in 2019 and asked him to pay Rs 2 crore every month as “protection money”, besides Rs 1.5 crore to Goel who was the minister’s “loyal” associate.