India · Delhi · New Delhi
Tihar Jail
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Tihar Jail
Step-by-step guidance using the India system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by IAC Delhi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Photo by Pulakit Singh via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo by Zuck28 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
South Asia's largest prison complex, comprising 16 jails in central Delhi. Houses pretrial and convicted inmates across nine central jails plus annexes.
Capacity
10,026
Current population
18,000
Occupancy
180%
Year opened
1958
Operational
Facility profile
Operator
Department of Delhi Prisons
Population held
mixed
Opened
1958
Region
Delhi
Security level
High
Death-row facility
Yes
Conditions
Significantly overcrowded at ~180% of design capacity. Multiple high-profile in-custody incidents.
Visiting
Visits via the eMulaqat online appointment portal; 30 minutes; ID required.
Mailing
Inmate Name & Prison Number, Central Jail Tihar [Jail No.], Tihar Village, New Delhi 110018, India.
Practical info
Tihar runs the country's most extensive inmate education and vocational programme.
Known issues
Inmate factionalism documented; high-profile murder of Tillu Tajpuriya in 2023.
Notable inmates
Manish Sisodia (2023-24), Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Dutt (1993-2007 across multiple visits), Charles Sobhraj.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 22/30
- Oversight reports
- 6/30
- Structural flags
- 5/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
What the score is responding to:
- · Severely overcrowded at 180% of capacity
- · 1 oversight report in the last 5 years
- · Death-row facility
Trend over time
Population and occupancy by year. Source: official corrections statistics + oversight reports.
Population held
Occupancy %
Compared to other facilities in India
295 peersReports
- Delhi High Court2 May 2023
Court took suo motu cognisance of the murder of inmate Tillu Tajpuriya inside Tihar; ordered review of intra-prison movement and segregation of high-risk inmates.
Data completeness
100%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Department of Delhi Prisons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.