Undertrials turn violent at Tis Hazari, police fire teargas

Around 200 undertrial prisoners were brought to Tis Hazari court for their proceedings and lodged in the court lock-up when a section of them resorted to violence following a dispute over a demand to keep a high-risk prisoner along with his brother in a cell for low-risk prisoners.

As the court lock-up officials refused to bow to the demand, the high-risk prisoner allegedly instigated his friends into violence using blades and injuring some of the inmates, said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Viond Yadav in his communication to district judge Pratibha Rani while detailing the incident.

The prisoners also vandalised various furniture, fixtures and fittings inside the lock-up, the communication said, putting the number of injured prisoners at nine.

The police had to resort to baton charging and lobbing of tear gas shells to put down the violence.

A senior police official said 17 prisoners and four policemen were injured in the incident. A case of rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and damage to public property has been registered at the Subzi Mandi police station. Police has named all the 17 convicts injured in the FIR.
Concerned over the violence, CMM Yadav suggested to Pratibha Rani to consider holding trial and other court proceedings of violent prisoners through video conferencing instead of bringing them to the court.