One inmate killed in turf war in 'high-security' Tihar jail

A turf war between two groups of criminals over superiority in Delhi’s ‘high-security’ Tihar jail claimed the life of a 29-year-old undertrial prisoner after he was stabbed to death by six attackers of the rival camp.

A turf war between two groups of criminals over superiority in Delhi’s ‘high-security’ Tihar jail claimed the life of a 29-year-old undertrial prisoner after he was stabbed to death by six attackers of the rival camp.

The inmate, identified as one Ravinder, 28, succumbed to his injuries at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Wednesday night.

Ravinder alias Arjun, a resident of Punjab, was arrested in a case of murder in West Delhi’s Madipur. He was a standing outside his barrack in jail number 1 around 6 pm when six inmates of another barrack, identified as Ajay Kumar, Ravi, Mukesh, Riyaz, Sushil and Vinod, attacked him.

The attackers used ‘patti’, sharp-edged weapons crafted from spoons and other utensils available in the prison. The incident took place in front of an unarmed warden Karamvir Kaushik.

By the time he could call guards and other prisoners for help, the attackers had stabbed Ravinder over a dozen times and slit his neck.

At least five other prisoners who tried to intervene sustained minor injuries in the incident. Ravinder was rushed to the prison dispensary from where he was sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.

“He was brought here in a very critical condition around 7 pm. He was stabbed with a sharp object on his face, chest and at the back. Ravinder was bleeding profusely, which ultimately caused his death around 11:30 pm at the hospital. We receive injury cases from Tihar due to bad blood among prisoners every third or fourth day,” said a doctor at the hospital.

“It happened due to a turf war between two groups of criminals in the jail. The accused have been taken into custody and investigations have been launched to establish the exact cause and circumstances which led to the murder within jail premises,” said DCP (west) Pushpendra Kumar.

A magisterial enquiry has been initiated and a case of murder has been registered at Hari Nagar police station.