Undertrial killed by prison inmates in jail van

New Delhi : A 28-year-old prison inmate was allegedly beaten to death by three other undertrials inside a jail van heading from Saket court to Tihar prison on Saturday.

The incident took place around 1.45 pm when four inmates -- identified as Manoj, Vishal, Raju and Salman -- were being taken back to the prisons after a court hearing and a fight broke out among them, said a senior police official.

There was an argument between Manoj and Vishal and soon it led to a scuffle, following which the driver of the prison van stopped the vehicle near the IIT flyover and called up the police control room (PCR), said the senior official.

When the PCR team reached the spot, they decided not to open the gate of the prison van as the prisoners could have tried to escape. The van was taken to Hauz Khas police station, where it was surrounded by a police team before the gate was opened, the official said.

Manoj was found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was declared dead on arrival. A case of murder has been registered and the accused have been arrested, DCP (South) Prem Nath said. He added that no weapon was used in the attack.

During interrogation, it emerged that Manoj had an enmity with Vishal and Raju since 2012, and they had often fought with each other on the jail premises. After the heated argument today, Vishal and Raju, along with their associate Salman, allegedly thrashed Manoj to death, said police.

The police, however, did not answer questions on whether records of the inmates to be transported had the information regarding any enmity between them as is usually given in such cases.

In a similar incident reported in August 2015, two prison inmates were allegedly beaten to death by seven others, including an infamous outer Delhi-based gangster, in a fight that broke out inside the prison van heading from Rohini court to Tihar jail. The incident led to a blame-game between Delhi Police and Delhi Prisons. It is the third battalion of Delhi Armed Police which is entrusted with transportation of prisoners between prisons and courts.