32-year-old inmate stabbed to death at Tihar Jail

The victim, identified as Prithvi, was lodged in jail number 8 in connection with a murder case. Around 9 am, security officials found his body lying in a pool of blood and rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Apart from the <g data-gr-id="61">stab</g> injury, there were several marks on his body suggesting that he was severely beaten up. Later, his family was informed and his body was sent for a postmortem examination, said a senior official.

A case of murder was registered at the Hari Nagar police station in West Delhi and <g data-gr-id="48">investigation</g> was soon taken up. By afternoon, the accused were identified as Manoj, Yashpal, <g data-gr-id="46">Suraj</g> and Mohit. All four of them were lodged in jail number 2 and often used to beat up inmates lodged in other jails. They were jailed in connection with a gang-rape case, said the official.

During interrogation, it emerged that the four accused came near jail number 8 in the morning and had an argument with Prithvi. During the argument, Prithvi allegedly slapped Yashpal, which led to a fist fight. The four accused then overpowered Prithvi and started kicking him once he lost his balance. Later, one of them pulled out a sharpened utensil and stabbed him to death. the four accused have now been booked under section 302 (murder) of IPC, the official added.

According to a source, the four accused and the deceased were earlier lodged at the jail in Rohini and they were reported to be rivals there. They were later transferred to Tihar a few months ago. “It can’t be said that the accused were members of any gang but they always hanged out together. The weapon they used was carved out of a prison fork, which they used to bury somewhere inside the jail premises during security checks,” said a senior official.

It shows that the jail authorities’ policy of replacing all stainless steel utensils with plastic plates and spoons to curb such menace have fallen short. This incident led to the 18th death inside Tihar premises, and the third case of murder, in the past five months. The previous incident was reported on May <g data-gr-id="53">11,</g> when one inmate was allegedly stabbed to death by three others.

This incident was reported amid reports of serious <g data-gr-id="63">offences</g> and gang fights, with as many as 20 gangs, inside the prison premises. Even the National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to Principal Secretary (Home) and Director General (Prisons) Alok Verma to give a report regarding gangs operating inside Tihar jail within 14 days. NHRC has also <g data-gr-id="62">authorised</g> a senior Superintendent of Police in the investigation division to conduct an inspection of the matter and file a report in a fortnight.

Tihar authorities faced a tough time, similar to this, in 2008 when as many as 26 inmates had filed petitions at the Delhi High Court alleging threats and harassment by gangs inside the jail premises. The most notorious of them were two ‘blade-<g data-gr-id="50">baaz</g>’ gangs allegedly led by habitual offenders Mohammed <g data-gr-id="51">Sheru</g> and Vijay Singh. The <g data-gr-id="58">victims in that case</g> included Romesh Sharma, <g data-gr-id="57">alleged</g> aide of Dawood Ibrahim, who was jailed for his girlfriend’s murder and former cop SS Rathi, who was involved in the 1997 Connaught Place shoot-out.

The Tihar authorities have once again denied the presence of any ‘gangs’ within the prison premises.