Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer
Sunil Gupta never expected his move into correctional services would become a lifetime commitment. What began as a fresh start at Tihar turned into thirty years observing humanity at its most fractured. His introduction came courtesy of Charles Sobhraj, the calculating serial killer whose mere presence revealed how completely the institution had slipped from official control. Within those walls, violence simmered constantly, and desperation fuelled endless hunger strikes from those convinced the system had forsaken them. This account peels back decades of institutional secrets. What truly happens when executions occur? The uncomfortable details surrounding Ram Singh's death in custody. The parallel lives of India's most reviled figures, from Sobhraj to Afzal Guru, told by someone who witnessed their final days firsthand. Gupta's candid testimony exposes how judges misread cases, how the innocent sometimes rot alongside the genuinely dangerous, and how those deemed beyond redemption lived and perished in obscurity. Journalist Sunetra Choudhury has translated his remarkable experiences into prose that's unflinching and deeply personal. What emerges is a rare, unvarnished portrait of how India's justice system actually functions when the cell doors lock and the public gaze shifts elsewhere. This isn't comfortable reading, but it matters profoundly.
- Author: Sunil Gupta
- Publisher: Roli Books
- Genre: Cultural Studies
- ISBN: 978-8194206859
- Pages: 208 pages