[niemamczasu]

Prisons guards ordered 'hit' on jailed Commonwealth Games chiefs

Prison officials armed two inmates and ordered them to assassinate two of three of Delhi's Commonwealth Games officials held in custody on corruption charges, an Indian court was told.



Entertainers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Photo: GETTY

By Dean Nelson, New Delhi 4:59PM GMT 22 Dec 2010

The claims were made by two brothers serving life sentences for murder in a magistrate court on Tuesday.

Magistrates in New Delhi, India, ordered an inquiry after Amit and Nishant Prasad petitioned the court to disclose details of a murder plot against senior officials accused of corruption in the award of contracts for the Queen's Baton Relay in London last year.

According to the brothers, jail officials gave them a pistol and a knife and ordered them to kill two of three Commonwealth Games officials held on corruption charges in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

They include T.S Darbari, a director of marketing for the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Sanjay Mahendroo, another director, and M Jeychandran, treasurer for the Delhi Games. They have been in custody since their arrest last month.

The chief metropolitan magistrate ordered a police inquiry into the claims after a knife was recovered from the wing where the brothers were being held.

The Prasad brothers' claims were angrily denied by prison spokesman Sunil Gupta. Although a 'blade gang' had carried out knife attacks on prisoners in the past, the Commonwealth Games officials were being held on a safe wing separate from hardened inmates, he said. The two brothers who had made the claims were unreliable, he added.

"One of the them is a convicted criminal, the other one is an accused, and both are habitual criminals facing multiple charges. This is a mischievous attempt by the two to divert the attention of court," he said. "The Commonwealth Games officials have not expressed any apprehensions about their safety. There is no threat to their life," he added.