A group of prisoners from Sri Lanka, most of them arrested and lodged in Puzhal Central Prison for possession of narcotics, ganged up and assaulted another inmate who hailed from Ghana on Monday morning. The latter, identified as Kuami Ebeniser (40), who has been in the prison since being arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in 2015, was seriously injured.

According to sources, Sri Lankans picked up an argument with Kuami over not keeping the kitchen area clean. The prisoners of foreign countries have a separate kitchen area where they cook and eat.

Though the fight started between one Murugan alias Kumaran and Kuami, the Lankans soon ganged up and assaulted the latter. Some of them allegedly used wooden clubs to attack Kuami, who told doctors at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital that he was attacked by 15 inmates.

Kuami sustained serious injury on his left shoulder, right middle finger and left knee. However, prison authorities claimed that Kuami fell in the kitchen and suffered injuries. After giving him preliminary treatment at the prison hospital, he was shifted to the medical college hospital in the evening for better care.