Around a fortnight after former Tihar jail Director General Vimla Mehra was transferred, another senior prison official - Sunil Gupta was removed from the post of Public Relations Officer (Prisons) today.
In another development, Alok Verma, a 1979 AGMUT cadre IPS officer, today joined as Director General (Prisons). Verma was earlier posted as Special Commissioner, Administration in Delhi Police and has taken over from Vimla Mehra who was shunted out last month.
According to Delhi Government, Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Mukesh Prasad will replace Gupta as Public Relations Officer (Prisons).
"Prasad has been appointed as Public Relations Officer (Prisons) in Central Jail by the Department of Home, Government of NCT of Delhi," said Special Secretary (Home) G L Meena while adding that the order to appoint Prasad were issued by the Government today while removing Gupta from the post.
Meena further said that the competent authority has desired that henceforth, prior to going to the media the information/matter may be brought to the notice of the competent authority for obtaining approval/consent.
Former Tihar jail Director General Vimla Mehra, the second woman to serve as the DG Tihar after Kiran Bedi, was transferred from her post on July 17 by the Union Home Ministry.
She had taken over as DG of the south Asia's largest jail complex in August 2012. Mehra is said to have brought in many administrative changes in making Tihar more prisoner-friendly but some controversies surrounding her names led to her untimely exit from the post.
Prison sources said that removal of Gupta from the post of PRO can be linked to Mehra's transfer.
Some of the stories which appeared in the media regarding Mehra's transfer and that related to Delhi prisons were not liked by higher authorities and that is the reason why it has been mandated, that in the future, information will be provided to the media only after obtaining "consent" from the "competent authority".
