Mangaluru: Mayhem broke out at Mangaluru District Prison in the early hours of Tuesday when inmates of one particular cell attacked the Prisons Superintendent and other officers.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Hanumantharaya, the incident occurred at 12.15 a.m. when the Superintendent and other officials went to Cell 1 of A Block to shift an inmate, Jalal, to another place.

All 27 inmates came out of the Cell, switched off the lights in the corridor and broke CCTV cameras in the vicinity before assualting the prison officials.

In the melee, Superintendent Paramesh and wardens Muttappa and G. Ramesh were injured.

Later, the inmates were overpowered and sent into the Cell. Barke Police have registered a case against 10 persons, while investigation to identify the other accused is on, Mr. Hanumantharaya said.

Jalal, according to Mr. Hanumantharaya, is a notorious criminal, facing 17 cases, including robbery and dacoity, in different police stations.

Prison officials had constantly been receiving complaints against Jalal that he was harassing inmates. Hence, the officials decided to shift him to an isolation cell but were attacked when they attempted to shift him. Jalal is an accused in a similar assault on prison officials earlier, Mr. Hanumantharaya said.