The Tihar jail authorities on Thursday found a mobile phone from the prison cell of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala during a surprise inspection by the Delhi Police, PTI reported.
Additional Inspector General Rajkumar said a mobile phone, a charger, tobacco pouch, and a wire was found from Chautala’s cell. However, during interrogation, Chautala’s fellow inmate Ramesh claimed that the items belonged to him.
Chautala is lodged in jail number two at Tihar jail and has two inmates in the cell with him. The cell phone recovered was an android phone, according to News18.
“The phone has been seized and the call details are being checked to verify how many calls were made, who all were contacted. It will also be clear who was actually using the phone,” a senior unidentified Tihar official told News18. The authorities are also trying to investigate if any staff of Tihar prison is involved in the incident.
The mobile phone was given to the Delhi Police Special Cell to ascertain the calls that were made from the phone.
Chautala had returned to Tihar jail after a 21-day furlough on Wednesday. Chautala and his elder son Ajay Chautala were both convicted in 2013 in the teachers’ recruitment scam and are currently serving 10 years in prison. They were found guilty of illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000.
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