Gangster Sunil Rathi, alleged killer of mafia don Munna Bajrangi, was shifted to a separate high-security ward in Tihar Jail after he alleged that the behaviour of the prison staff at his previous cell was "biased, unsupportive and dangerous", a Delhi court was told.
The submission was made by Tihar jail authorities in a compliance report before Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau on whose direction Rathi was shifted.
In its status report, authorities informed the court that Rathi was moved from the high-security Jail number 5 to high-security Jail number 3.
They said Rathi has been allowed necessary bedding arrangements for his medical ailment from the Jail Welfare Canteen.
He is being provided regular medical treatment by a neurologist for his slip disc problem, they said in the report.
They also said the name of his brother was added to the visitors' list in prison after the required verification as the accused had claimed that his family members were not being allowed to meet him due to the authorities' biased and unfavourable behaviour towards him.
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Rathi, along with other accused, had allegedly killed Radhey Shyam, then Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh, on June 18, 2006.
Shyam was looking after the Rs 240-crore Upper Ganga Link Canal project of the UP government, under which Ganga and Yamuna rivers were to be linked to solve the long-standing irrigation and drinking water problems of the state.
He was allegedly killed because of a clash with another engineer over the project.
The case was transferred from Roorkee in Uttarakhand to Delhi in 2011 following the Supreme Court's order in light of continuous threats given to the victim's family if they deposed in the court there.
Rathi had allegedly killed Bajrangi inside Baghpat Jail on July 9, 2018.
In the application filed by Rathi before the court, he had sought that he be shifted from Jail number 5, where he is currently lodged, to any other cell in Tihar prison.
"Presently, he is lodged in Jail No 5 where the behaviour of the jail authorities towards the accused (Rathi) is totally biased, un- supportive and dangerous in nature," the plea had said.
He also claimed he faces threat to his life from some prisoners lodged in Jail number 5.
The plea said Rathi has been specifically advised by the doctor to sleep on a mattress as he suffers from slip disc but despite repeated requests, no such arrangements were provided to him.