Delhi: Inmate stabbed to death in Tihar jail by Afghan prisoner

A 29-year-old Tihar prisoner inmate was stabbed to death after an altercation broke out between him and another inmate over the issue of food on May 3. 

Officials from the jail said that around 12:40 p.m., an inmate named Abdul Basir (44), an Afghan national, stabbed Deepak Soni, an undertrial prisoner, inside Central Jail number 4's ward number 3, without causing any harm. The accused prisoner was taken into custody in less than 30 minutes as prison officers and Quick Response Teams hurried to the scene to contain the situation.

An official from the jail stated, "The accused had made an improvised knife and stabbed the victim when he was performing sevadar chores (he assisted prison personnel with daily tasks)... After receiving emergency medical attention, the injured prisoner was sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

The incident occurs shortly after Sanjay Beniwal, the outgoing Director General (Prisons), retired on May 1 and was replaced by Satish Golcha. 

DCP (West) Vichitra Veer said that Soni was stabbed in the chest. He was a Shakurpur local. According to him, a murder case has been filed and Section 176 of the CrPC procedures have been started.

We have learned that a fellow prisoner used a sharp metal weapon to attack the deceased. The Lajpat Nagar resident who was charged with attempting to murder someone in 2019 was taken into custody by the Lajpat Nagar Police Station, according to the DCP. 

The police explained that there hadn't been any evidence of a gang connection up to this point and that the accused and the deceased got into a fight early in the morning over food. The deceased was a sevadar who assisted with daily activities for the prison personnel while working with them.