3 Taloja jailors, clerk suspended for assaulting murder accused

MUMBAI: Three jailors and a clerk from

Taloja jail

were suspended after an inquiry report found them guilty of assaulting a 30-year-old murder undertrial in January.


The inmate, Mahendra Singh alias Zorawar Singh Bajwa alias Mitthu Balkan Singh, a Gurgaon resident, was sent to Taloja jail on charges of murdering the former chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights,

Meenakshi Jaiswal

, at her

Kharghar

residence in December 2014. Jaiswal, 46, was wife of Malegaon sessions court judge Santosh Jaiswal.

Those suspended are jailors Atul Kale, Maheshukar Mali, Amit Gurav and clerk Paravin Salunkhe.

The assault incident dates back to January 2, when Singh had an argument with another inmate over switching off the ceiling fan in the barrack. This led to a heated argument between the two. Later, Kale summoned Singh and shouted at him over his behaviour. The jailors told the inquiry panel that Singh argued with them and a few fisticuffs were exchanged. But Singh, in his complaint, alleged that the police personnel had demanded money from him for providing him ‘good place’ in the jail and when he refused, they beat him up. He fractured his leg and was admitted to the jail hospital after the incident, police officials said.

Singh then approached the

Bombay high court

and sought a probe into the assault. The HC directed the director general of prisons to probe the matter. After the inquiry was concluded, the three jailors and a clerk were suspended last week. In addition, a default report against three more jailors —Prakash Pikrao, Bapurao Mote and Srinivas Patakal—has also been submitted. “Action against the trio is likely soon,” said a jail officer, adding that it may be in the form of stoppage of increment. “Their direct role in the assault case has not been established, but it has been found in part of it,” added the officer.

Singh was first arrested by the Gurgaon police after he murdered his neighbour. He was in Haryana jail and was later granted bail. While on bail, he moved to Kharghar where his sister lived and started hunting for a job. But he came in contact with a robber gang and in December 2014, along with Jaiswal’s domestic help Vinayak Chavan and one more accused landed at her Kharghar residence. The police said that Chavan waited downstairs while Singh and the third accused entered the flat. The duo slit Jaiswal’s throat and fled with valuables worth Rs 2.5 lakh. Later, the police arrested Singh and Chavan, who had hatched the robbery-murder plan.

While the Jaiswal murder case is under trial, Singh was awarded life imprisonment in the Gurgaon murder case.


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