Don: Do something, chacha

DIG: You respect me so much. I will do everything possible to help

Lucknow, May 31: That’s the DIG (prisons) of Lucknow Central Jail assuring two gangsters over phone he would do the best he could to stall their transfer out.

But that’s not all. A sting operation has been done on him by his subordinates, who got two telecom engineers to tap his phone and tape the tell-tale conversation.

Even that’s not all. Police have gone to the media with a CD of the six-minute dialogue to ensure it gets its pride of place in history.

In possibly the first such instance ever, Uttar Pradesh police last night pulled off a Tehelka-type operation on Sesh Mani Tripathi, who they claim has been helping gangsters Atul Singh and Manish Tiwari run an extortion racket over mobile phone from jail.

Tripathi was today suspended by the state government. An FIR will be filed against him shortly.

In the tell-tape tape recorded on Saturday, the dons are heard pleading with Tripathi to ensure they are not packed off to Fatehpur jail. The day before, the jail directorate had ordered their transfers for assaulting two Alambag police station officers during questioning.

“Fatehpur jail is in my jurisdiction. The superintendent there respects me. He will do whatever I ask him,” the DIG is heard assuring them.

According to the tape, Tiwari dials the DIG’s residence, hands the phone to Singh and later speaks himself. They appeared to have little option but to bank on Tripathi as their racket would come undone without his connivance.

Lucknow police first got whiff of the racket after extortion complaints were made by 22 city businessmen and industrialists. Initial inquiries pointed to the dons’ links with top government officials.

“We came to know that these two have been keeping contact with the DIG (prisons) and using his influence to smuggle mobile phones into the jail to run their racket,” said Lucknow senior superintendent of police Navneet Sikera.

Soon, he got information the duo was using 12-13 cellphones and 15 different numbers to contact traders. Then he decided the best way to catch Tripathi red-handed would be to mount a sting operation.

“We had to do it because there was no other way to prove this. It is obviously very painful to have our senior officer on tape talking to the dons,” Sikera said, hoping the tape would be admissible in court as evidence.

Tripathi waved away the incident as a gimmick.

“I can talk to any inmate because I happen to be the DIG in charge of the jail. That cannot be cited as a case against me.

“How many ministers and politicians talk to criminals? Can their conversation be used as evidence of criminality?”

Later, Tripathi got himself admitted to a local nursing home, pleading indisposition.