NEW DELHI, Mar 29: Heralding more trouble for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Union home ministry on Friday accorded sanction for a CBI inquiry against the jailed AAP leader and former minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly extorting ₹10 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as “protection money.”
Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high-profile inmates, it was alleged. The development came as Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is in ED custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.
Early this year, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had sanctioned the CBI inquiry into extortion charges against Satyendar Jain. In a letter seeking the LG’s nod to probe the extortion charges, CBI in November last year wrote that Jain was accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding ₹10 crore as “protection money” from Chandrashekhar to enable him to “live peacefully and comfortably in jail.”
The allegations were made by the conman who said Jain extorted money in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices — to enable him (Sukesh) live comfortably in different jails of Delhi — Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.
Satyendar Jain was arrested in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. His last bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court in March this year and the top court asked him to surrender in connection with the money laundering case. He was given an interim medical bail on May 26, 2023 after he fell in the jail bathroom. During the bail period, he underwent a spinal operation.
(Manas Dasgupta)