An undertrial lodged in Tihar jail was allegedly killed by his cellmates in a high risk ward of the prison complex over some monetary dispute. The incident occurred on Tuesday night when Deepak Kumar (29), lodged in the high risk ward, was allegedly beaten with iron rods picked up from a window, He had been in Tihar since 2008 in connection with several cases ranging from dacoity to attempt to murder, said sources.
According to senior officials of Tihar, the initial probe of Tuesday's incident has revealed that the assailants, all of whom were lodged in jail number 8, used improvised weapons carved from window materials to kill Deepak. The assailants included a life convict Satpal and two others involved in murder cases. One of them, identified as Manpreet, had allegedly killed another inmate inside Tihar earlier.
The official added that the four were involved in many heinous criminal cases ranging from dacoity to murder and have been regularly violating the prison norms.
Sources said Deepak was attacked with sharp, pointed weapons inside the cell at about 10 pm on Tuesday. "The accused chose to wait for everyone else to sleep to execute their plan," revealed sources. "One of the officials who spotted Deepak lying in a pool of blood during the routine check alerted the senior officials after which Deepak was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors."
A case in this connection has been registered at Hari Nagar police station and investigations are underway. It must be noted, however, that frequent incidents of murder, brawls and recovery of forbidden items inside the prison complex have been surfacing over the past few months and the Tihar authorities have been under tremendous pressure. The sensational jailbreak last month, in which two inmates had scaled three walls and hollowed one to escape, had also raised serious concerns about the Asia's biggest jail.
In June, Delhi High Court had sought a status report from the Delhi Government on the death of 15 Tihar inmates between January and April this year following which Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain had sought a reply from officials on increasing cases of violence inside the jail premises.
In May alone two convicts were found dead inside Tihar Jail. Of the two convicts, one was identified as Ritesh (32), serving a life sentence for murder, and the other was Amit (26), serving an eight-year jail term after being convicted of attempted murder.