Tillu Tajpuria Murder: 6 Accused Seeks Legal Aid Counsel

Six accused in the Tillu Tajpuria murder case have requested legal aid counsel to represent them in their case before Delhi’s Patiala House Court. Tillu was purportedly murdered in Tihar Jail in May 2023.

Their case was recently transferred to the sessions court after the charge sheet was thoroughly scrutinized. All accused individuals were presented before the sessions court on March 22.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Devender Kumar Jangala heard the plea of all accused, who attended the proceedings via video conferencing (VC) from Jail. The court has instructed to dispatch a letter to the secretary of the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA).

“In response to the plea from all accused persons, a letter shall be dispatched to the Secretary DLSA, PHC, NDD, ND, to provide legal aid counsel to all accused individuals, namely Riyaz Khan, Deepak alias Titar, Yogesh alias Tunda, Rajesh alias Karambir, Vinod alias Chhavani, and Atul Rehman Khan, who are currently in judicial custody,” ordered ASJ Jangala on March 22.

This matter is scheduled for hearing arguments on the charge on April 25, 2024. On August 4, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell filed a 936-page charge sheet against the six accused persons in the Tillu Tajpuria murder case.

The charge sheet includes a list of 113 prosecution witnesses, and CCTV footage of the incident has also been submitted as evidence. The results from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) are still pending.

The Patiala House Court has taken cognizance of the charge sheet. According to the Delhi Police, the investigation involved reviewing CCTV footage of the incident, statements of witnesses under section 161 Cr.P.C., and statements recorded before the court under section 164 Cr.P.C. of eyewitnesses present at the time of the incident.

The Delhi Police also recovered the weapons used in the offense, blood-stained clothes, and shoes at the instance of the accused individuals. During further investigation, six blood-stained knives were recovered from the accused. Clothes and shoes worn by the accused persons at the time of the incident were also recovered from different jails, as all the accused individuals were transferred to different jails after the incident.

The police mentioned that CCTV footage of the incident was seized from Tihar Jail. Furthermore, all the blood-stained knives, along with clothes and shoes of both the accused and the victim, were submitted to the FSL, Rohini, for DNA profiling.

On May 2, 2023, Sunil alias Tillu Tajpuria was stabbed to death by members of the rival Gogi gang in Central Jail No. 8, Tihar, allegedly in retaliation for the murder of their leader Jitender Gogi inside a courtroom in 2021.

A case was registered at PS Hari Nagar, Delhi, and its investigation was entrusted to the Northern Range of the Special Cell, Delhi. During the investigation, six accused individuals, namely Deepak alias Tittar, Yogesh alias Tunda, Riyaz Khan alias Sonu, Rajesh alias Karambir, Vinod alias Chavanni, and Ata ur Rehman Khan, all inmates of Central Jail-8, were apprehended in connection with the case.