Tension prevailed at Chhapra divisional jail in the wake of a clash between a group of prisoners and the security personnel on Tuesday.

A Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) officer was badly injured in the conflict. The injured cop, Krishna Rai, has been admitted to a government hospital.

The trouble erupted after an undertrial attempted to immolate himself on the jail premises to protest his transfer from the divisional jail. The prisoner, identified as Manu Singh, refused to come out of the prisoners’ ward and set himself on fire after pouring kerosene. However, the wardens deployed on the campus foiled his attempts. An injured Manu, too, has been shifted to Patna Medical College and Hospital for treatment.

The other inmates clashed with the security personnel when the latter tried to use force to take them out of their wards. Sixteen prisoners were to be shifted to jails in Bettiah, Sitamarhi and Bhagalpur.

The prisoners facing charges of murder, kidnapping, loot and extortion, were transferred in the wake of recent directive of the prison directorate in Patna.

Apprehending that the situation may go out of control, the security personnel sounded an alert and requisitioned for additional force. Subsequently, additional superintendent of police Ravindra Kumar and the sub-divisional officer, Abdul Qayum Ansari, reached with reinforcement from the district headquarters.

Saran superintendent of police Varun Kumar Sinha said the situation was under control. “Additional forces have been deployed as a precautionary measure,” he said. The jail administration has, however, postponed the transfer of the selected prisoners.

“The shifting has been stopped for the time being,” said the jail superintendent.

A senior prison department officer in Patna said the decision to transfer the prisoners has been taken in the wake of a clash between two groups of prisoners in Hajipur divisional jail a few days ago.