First locked with rivals, inmate then stabbed inside Ludhiana Central Jail’s ‘safe’ ward.

Ludhiana: A high-security gang rivalry boiled over inside the city’s Central Jail on Monday when five inmates allegedly stabbed a rival drug-trafficking suspect hours after he requested a ward transfer for his safety.Manroj, who was jailed 20 days ago under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, received severe head and chest wounds. He remains in critical condition at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala after being stabilised at Ludhiana’s civil hospital.Prison authorities have requested police file first-information reports (FIRs) — the initial step in a criminal investigation — against fellow inmates Mohanmeet Singh, Harkaran Singh, Gurtej Singh, Shubham Mishra, and Tajinder Singh. The attack occurred just hours after Manroj met with senior prison officials on Monday afternoon, warning them that long-term rivals from his hometown of Samrala were housed in his unit.“After Manroj’s request, we changed his ward quickly,” said Balbir Singh, deputy superintendent of Ludhiana’s Central Jail. “However, by the evening, the accused inmates from the separate wards managed to gather and attack him.”They were awaiting trial on charges such as murder, theft, weapons offences, and assault. Police said their feud with Manroj dated back to long before their respective incarcerations.