Sylvester Daniel is a person known for having a criminal history and being a key witness in the cases for the

death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh The Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case was a criminal case in the Gujarat state after the death of Sohrabuddin Anwarhussain Sheikh on November 26, 2005. A special CBI court acquitted all the 22 accused in the case in the alleged encounter kill ...

and

Tulsiram Prajapati killing Tulsiram Prajapati was a man, who was killed while in custody at 5 am on 26 December 2005. The case is widely believed to have been an encounter killing by the Gujarat Police. DIG D.G. Vanzara has been in jail for seven years, on charges of havin ...

Early life

Daniel's parents both had careers in healthcare. They lived in Rajasthan. Daniel had good grades as a student. He also played sports.

History sheet

When in jail he met a local

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

who recruited him for more crimes. Again in jail he met Tulsiram Prajapati who introduced him to Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The local criminal culture and police knew of the three as a criminal trio who collaborated. Police later charged Daniel, Tulsiram, and Sohrabuddin with the murder of Hamid Lala, who was another crime boss. In December 2004 the police arrested Sohrabuddin, Tulsiram, and Daniel for the case known as the "Popular Builders firing". His charge was firing guns at real estate developers with Tulsiram. In this case, these three fired guns at the Patel brothers, who were owners of the Popular Builders real estate company.

Witness in Sohrabuddin case

Daniel came to national attention as a witness in the

and its connected

. In October 2011 after a court appearance Daniel escaped from police custody. There were various stories explaining how he escaped. One story is that he escaped during a toilet break, and another is that he escaped when the police took him to visit his sick mother at her home. Another story is that several police officers drank

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

with him at his home, and that Daniel escaped after getting them

drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

. Another story is that police wanted Daniel to escape. After escaping Daniel bought a gun. Within 24 hours of escaping police arrested him again. The police administration charged 5 officers for their actions which led to Daniel's escape. The

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

petitioned the court to not let Daniel out of jail for his own safety, and to thereafter have his legal proceedings in the jail. In July 2012 Daniel got bail and left jail.

References

{{reflist Indian criminals