A fight for supremacy between two groups of prisoners, allegedly aided by some warders, left three undertrials injured in Presidency jail on Monday afternoon.

The fight broke out over the election of monitors among the convicts and continued for nearly an hour, said a jail official.

The warders were allegedly spectators to the clash and allowed it take a serious turn. The jail superintendent rushed to the spot with policemen to quell the violence.

Warders Uttam Pramanik and Anjan Das, allegedly backed by the convicts, were showcaused for allowing prisoners to ?rest? in the jail hospital for a price.

Jail superintendent Kamal Kumar Mukherjee told Metro: ?Election of monitors among the convicts is a regular procedure. It was a minor incident. Two groups of prisoners fought for supremacy. The situation was quickly brought under control.?

On being asked why two warders were showcaused after the incident, Mukherjee said: ?An inquiry is on to ascertain the cause of the incident. I cannot tell you more at this point, as the inquiry is in the initial stage.?

According to a jail official, the fight started around 3 pm after gangs of prisoners led by Rashid Alam, alias Gabbar, Jagga and Palash Das tried to influence the election of monitors. Gabbar, a lifer, heads one group of prisoners, while another lifer, Jagga, heads the other group. The warders allegedly have two groups, backed by Gabbar and Jagga.

?Gabbar and Jagga wanted their men to be elected monitors in several wards of the jail. Gabbar?s supporters directed some undertrials of ward seven and eight not to vote for Jagga?s men. The other group became furious after finding this out and tried to resolve the issue through a fight,? explained a jail official.

A monitor is elected every year for convicts in each ward of the jail. The job of the monitors is to keep an eye on fellow prisoners and inform the authorities in case of an emergency. ?Basically, they serve as a link between prisoners and the jail authorities. There are a section of warders who are hand-in-glove with the monitors,? added the official.

The warders allegedly extort money from the prisoners through the monitors.