'Tihar is a dangerous place'

Says an inmate who claims he's been brutally attacked by fellow jailbirds six times in the last six months; he was put here in January 2008 for alleged extortion and was booked under MCOCACops say 45-year-old Khalil Ahmed is a danger to society. But the Tihar Jail inmate claims that it's his life that's in danger. Was arrested by Delhi police's special cell and put in Tihar Jail. Pics/Mid DayKhalil, who has been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for a non-bailable offence, says he's been attacked six times in the past six months - on four occasions inside jail premises and twice while being presented in court. Brawl behind bars! Khalil AhmedKhalil was arrested in January 2008 by the special cell in a case of extortion. In 2008, a person named Kamar Ahmed alleged that Khalil tried to extort money from him and the latter was arrested under MCOCA. Behind closed doors: Inside Tihar Jail. File pic Repeated attemptsArvind Kumar, advocate of Khalil Ahmed, alleged that his client has faced several attacks from Tihar inmates in the past few months.u00a0He was first attacked in May 3, and since then he's been assaulted on five more occasions. We have also lodged attempt to murder cases at various police stations. Four cases have been registered in Hari Nagar police station and two at Sabzi Mandi police station. But no action has been taken by the police authorities, said Arvind. In fact Khalil was attacked on Tuesday too. We lodged a complaint in the minorities' commission also but nothing has happened so far. Khalil was locked in a high-security ward. But despite this the attacks continue. Tihar officials are not giving him proper security. Khalil used to complain about the jail authorities and other prisoners. That might be the main reason behind these incidents, Arvind added.The lawyer also said that he filed a petition with Tis Hazari Courts, pleading for shifting his client to another NCR jail. But his plea was turned down. If he is attacked again then the jail administration should be held guilty, he said.u00a0 The other sideMeanwhile, Suniel Gupta, official spokesperson of Tihar Jail said, Khalil is a terror for the Capital and other than MCOCA, which is a non-bailable offence, he was involved in several other heinous crimes also. All the allegations and complaints of Khalil are false. He was put into high security risk ward just because he is a notorious criminal.