Three officials of Tihar Jail have been suspended and contract of other three employees have been terminated by the Delhi Prisons Administration on Thursday.

The Deputy Superintendent of the Jail, Subhash Sharma has also been placed under the scanner by the Director General of Delhi Prisons following an enquiry on the conduct of these six employees after they were found to be in cahoots with inmates and have allegedly plied them with banned substances. They were also extorting money from relatives of inmates.

After allegations were levelled against a few officials for allegedly accepting bribes from relatives of inmates, an internal enquiry revealed that three of Tihar’s employees as well as three hired on contract basis were involved in this op.

The accused have been identified as Devendra Kumar (Head Constable), who was deployed in CPRO at Jail No. 3, and Kavita, who works as a Matron in Jail No. 6. The three contract employees hired as data entry operators — Mohit Pawar, Deepak Raj and Sushil Kumar — have also been suspended.

The enquiry revealed that the accused took money from relatives of inmates to provide them with necessary services, which included providing them better conditions inside the barracks, arranging more mulaqat sessions with family, forging medical records and providing them with banned tobacco products inside the Jail. Recently, one of the accused had taken Rs 20,000 from a family.

During inspection, a Jail Superintendent recovered cigarettes as well as other tobacco products from some inmates. The Prisons Authority asked the Superintendents to keep a check on inmates.

The DG of Delhi Prisons said, “I have ordered the suspension of three regular employees of Tihar Jail and the contract of three employees has been terminated with immediate effect. The role of Subhash Sharma, the Deputy Superintendent is also being investigated. I am writing to the Chief Secretary for a departmental action against Sharma.”

Meanwhile, a committee has been formed and a report is likely to be submitted before the DG by this week. Further action would be taken once the detailed report is out,” said Sunil Gupta, spokesperson for Delhi Prisons.