Undertrial killed by inmates at lockup in Delhi’s Saket court; cops file murder case, point to old enmity

Around 9:30 am, escorted by a head constable, the 24-year-old entered a lockup. He was waiting in Khajra (cell) number 5 for the hearing with dozens of prisoners when an altercation broke out between him and Jitender, a fellow inmate. An altercation was seen between the two outside the court earlier, said officers.

Within a few minutes, around 10 am, tensions heightened, and the fight turned physical. Jitender allegedly kicked Aman, and Aman’s head was smashed into a wall and then onto a commode. Then, along with his friend Jaidev, Jitender allegedly stomped on a bleeding Aman and tried to strangulate him with his knees, a police officer said.

A police constable stationed outside then rushed inside the cell and rescued Aman, who was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital. By 11 am, doctors at the hospital declared Aman dead due to excessive bleeding from the head injury.

Ankit Chauhan, DCP, 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 two accused, Jitender and Jaidev, were questioned inside the lockup block of the Saket court till after noon — with prison guard officials and Saket police station personnel both taking turns while analysing the CCTV footage in the duty officer’s room. A case of murder has been registered at the Saket police station against them, the police said.

The two-floor lockup block of the Saket court has multiple khajras (cells) to hold undertrials. There are different khajras for VIPs and high-risk prisoners. The cell holding Aman and the two accused, Khajra number 5, had a total of 37 prisoners at the time of the incident.

“Usually, when it is known that two prisoners have some enmity, they are kept in separate Khajras. But it was not known that Aman and Jitender were at loggerheads, so they were in the same cell,” a police officer said.