New Delhi: A 24-year old under-trial prisoner was killed at the Saket courts complex in front of 34 eyewitnesses while the police looked on, unable to get inside the court lockup, the Hindustan Times reported

The victim, Aman Poddar, was attacked by two fellow inmates on Wednesday inside the lock-up block while waiting for being produced in court.

The accused, Jitender Singh and Jaidev Chand, reportedly kicked Poddar causing him to hit a wall head-first and collapse. According to eyewitnesses, Singh then pressed the victim’s neck with his foot as he lay on the floor. 

By the time the police opened the door and pulled Poddar away, he had suffered several injuries. He was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital, the paper reported.

Poddar, a resident of Govindpuri, had been in jail since 2017 in connection with a murder case. 

Ankit Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, said, “Jitender and Aman had old animosity between them due to an assault incident that happened in 2024 when they both were outside the jail. Aman allegedly assaulted Jitender and his brother with a knife at the time.”

The case has spotlighted lax custodial security and the police’s failure in enforcing protocol by allowing two prisoners with known animosity to be held in the same cell.

The accused had engaged in a verbal spat with Poddar before heading to court that morning, a senior police officer, requesting anonymity, told the Hindustan Times. “Once inside the same lock-up, they found an opportunity to strike,” the officer said.

“It is shocking that such a lapse occurred. How were they all placed in the same lock-up?” a member of the Saket Bar Association said, citing standard practice to hold inmates from rival gangs or known rivalries in separate cells.

According to the paper, the lock-up was near capacity with 37 under-trials lodged in the 40-person jail and a single constable outside. Anonymous sources quoted by the paper said that by the time police were able to get in, the minute-long attack was over.

Anil Basoya, secretary of the Saket Bar Association, said, “This is unprecedented. There were no weapons used, but the circumstances that allowed it are deeply troubling.”

Custodial lapses are being probed and the police have registered a case of murder, the report said.

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