Mumbai, Aug 26: The fierce rivalry between underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan tore into the high-security Arthur Road jail late on Thursday evening.

A bloody scuffle erupted between members of the rival groups while a police team was escorting a group of criminals.

The clash started as head constable Shahabuddin Mulani was shifting three Rajan gangsters, including his key associate Vicky Malhotra, from one cell to another. A group of Dawood gang members led by Salim Shaikh, alias Salim Kutta, attacked the Rajan group with bricks and stones.

Mulani suffered head injuries, but none of the gangsters was seriously hurt. The rioting was brought under control by the jail staff a few minutes later.

According to jail officials, Mulani was moving Rajan gangsters Saji Joseph, Vineet Yadav, Malhotra and Farid Tanasha to another cell when Salim Kutta and associate Ehtesham Haji Rasool Shaikh abused them and threw stones and bricks that were to be used to build a toilet.

It is believed that Dawood associate Ejaz Pathan and the don’s brother, Iqbal Kaskar, provoked the fight, but police officials did not confirm this.

Malhotra and Tanasha were recently arrested by Mumbai police from New Delhi on July 11. The arrests sparked a controversy after the Mumbai police team, led by deputy commissioner (crime), Dhanajay Kamlakar, found Malhotra with a former director of the Intelligence Bureau. The incident exposed the lack of co-ordination between the law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Malhotra has over 25 criminal cases against him, and was believed to be handling the gang operations on directions from the Malaysia-based Rajan.

Skirmishes between rival gangsters are a regular feature at the Arthur Road jail, which houses over 3,000 inmates. Many are members of the organised underworld and detainees under the now-defunct anti-terror law, Tada, facing trial in the Mumbai blasts case.

The rivalry between Dawood and Rajan and between Arun Gawli and Amar Naik gangs often results in pitched battles inside the jail that holds over 300 hardcore criminals. The overcrowded jail was built in 1920s to house 800 inmates.

Dawood and his close associate Rajan Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan, fell out after the serial blasts of 1993. Rajan accused Dawood of keeping him in the dark about the blasts.

Since the “communal split” in the Dawood gang, the two outfits have been engaged in a gang war.