Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted permission for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from conman Sukash Chandrashekhar.

“LG VK Saxena has sanctioned a CBI Inquiry under section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act against former Delhi Minister leader Satyendar Jain for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from notorious conman Sukash Chandrashekhar,” the LG office said on Saturday.

The former minister is accused of running a high profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding Rs 10 crore as “protection money” from Chandrashekhar so as to enable him to “live peacefully and comfortably in jail, it said.

Jain, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, was also lodged in Tihar Jail where he had also “influenced the jail officials into providing him with body massage and other VIP treatment”, the LG office said in a statement.

Saxena, having given his sanction for the CBI inquiry, also referred the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for necessary action in the matter, it informed.

Notably, on 9th February, the LG had also sanctioned CBI inquiry against Raj Kumar, the then Superintendent of Tihar Jail, for allegedly extorting money at the behest of Jain and Sandeep Goel, the former DG of Tihar Jail, the LG office said.

The statement further said, “The case pertains to the charges made by Sukash Chandrashekhar that Jain had extorted and received Rs 10 crore from him in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices, as protection money, so as to enable him ‘to live peacefully and comfortably in different jails of Delhi (Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli). Jain was minister (Jail) during this period in the AAP government.”

The matter is being investigated by the CBI and the request for prosecution sanction had come through the Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) of GNCTD to the LG, who is the competent authority in the matter, it said.

Apart from Satyendar Jain and Raj Kumar, Chandrashekhar had also accused Sandeep Goel and one Mukesh Prasad of extorting Rs 12.50 crore in various tranches during 2019-22 from him.

Jain, Goel, Prasad and Kumar are accused of misusing their official positions as public servants in extending undue favour to Chandrashekhar and other high-profile inmates in Delhi jails in lieu of valuable considerations, it added.