Two inmates of Tihar Jail drown in drain, 3 prison officials suspended

The deceased, identified as Amit Kumar and Vinay Kumar, were assigned gardening duty when the incident occurred, according to officials aware of the matter.

Two inmates at Delhi’s Tihar Jail died on Friday morning after allegedly slipping and drowning in a stormwater drain inside the prison premises, officials said. Both men were serving sentences for murder convictions.

Jail officials said a guard on the watchtower saw the men slipping into the drain. (Representational Photo/PTI)

The deceased, identified as Amit Kumar and Vinay Kumar, were assigned gardening duty when the incident occurred around 8.30am, according to officials aware of the matter.

Jail officials said a guard on the watchtower saw the men slipping into the drain. “We are verifying whether they were instructed to clean the drain or took it upon themselves. It is also possible that one slipped and the other tried to help,” said a senior jail official, adding that they found the manhole cover tilted and suspect it may have been the reason for the incident.

The Tihar jail spokesperson told HT that the drain, about 15 feet deep, contained water. “They were pulled out before falling into the pit but had already drowned due to the water inside the drain,” the official said. The drain is typically cleaned by the Public Works Department (PWD), not inmates, the spokesperson added.

In connection with the incident, three prison staff members -- a deputy superintendent, an assistant superintendent, and a hawaldar -- have been suspended for alleged negligence. All three were questioned by a departmental inquiry committee before action was taken.

The jail administration is also probing why the inmates were near the drain and what instructions, if any, they had received. “This drain is too large to be cleaned manually. We are trying to understand how the inmates got access to it,” said the spokesperson.