Two inmates in a New Delhi jail told a court that guards gave them weapons and ordered them to kill Commonwealth Games officials being held in same prison, Indian media said Wednesday. Two brothers, who are standing trial for murder, said prison officers provided them with a knife and gun to kill two members of the Games organising committee who are being held over graft charges, the Mail Today reported.
The presiding magistrate on Tuesday ordered a police report into the claims. In total, three Delhi 2010 committee members are being held accused of fraudulent allocation of Games-related contracts. The brothers said they were threatened with a transfer to a ward filled with more dangerous criminals unless they agreed to carry out the murder plot.
Officials at the Tihar jail dismissed the claims, telling the court that the two men were running a gang inside prison, and that the only weapon recovered in a search was a sharpened spoon. The budget for the Commonwealth Games, which were held in Delhi in October, ballooned to an estimated six billion dollars. Investigators are now probing corruption allegations surrounding the event.