Tihar inmate killed in fight inside moving prison van

In what appears to be a case of gang rivalry, a Tihar inmate was murdered on Saturday afternoon inside a jail van in Hauz Khas area of south district. The deceased, who was involved in several heinous crimes in the city, was being ferried back to the prison, along with 50 other prisoners, when at least three men killed him. This incident comes about four months after two inmates were beaten to death in a similar way by seven others, including the infamous outer Delhi-based gangster Neeraj Bawana, in a fight that broke out inside the prison van heading from Rohini court to Tihar jail in August. Following that incident, a slew of measures were taken to prevent such incidents, but Saturday’s tragedy has once again raised questions of security of the inmates.

According to the police, the incident took place at about 1 pm when the jail van was returning from Saket court with about 50 prisoners. “When the jail van reached Chirag Delhi flyover, the security officials heard some commotion coming from the inmates’ cabin,” said a senior police officer, adding, “They learnt that a fight had started between two groups, in which one man was being targeted.”

Though it is not yet clear, sources said that the security personnel, rather than stopping the vehicle at the spot, drove straight inside the Hauz Khas police station after which the inmates’ cabin lock was opened. “For fear of more violence, the security staff may have decided to take the vehicle to a safe place,” an official said.

The police added that Manoj was found lying in a pool of blood. He was imprisoned a few weeks back in connection with an arms act case and was involved in a murder case as well. His body was rushed to AIIMS where he was declared brought dead.

Officials said that they suspect it to be a case of gang rivalry and that they have identified the three culprits who committed the murder. “A gang war has been on in the south district for quite a while now,” an officail said.