PETALING JAYA, April 19 — A gang fight that erupted over theft of food at Sungai Buloh Prison led to the murder of former national boxer G. Ramkumar, 25, it emerged yesterday.

It was learnt rival gangs clashed following claims that an inmate had stolen food from a cell holding eight people including Ramkumar, silver medallist in the 69kg boxing category at the 2013 SEA Games.

On April 8, Ramkumar and two others beat up the suspected thief which caused tension between the gangs to flare up.

The following morning the two gangs clashed at Ramkumar’s cell as the morning assembly was taking place, said a police source.

Prison guards broke up the fight and  banished Ramkumar and his two cell mates to isolation as punishment.

Moments later, a group of rival gang members entered the cell and attacked the trio with a sharp seven-inch weapon.

Ramkumar was stabbed several times in the back as his head was held down by one of the suspects. The fight then escalated outside the cell.

Guards ended the fight and sent the victim to the hospital where he died.

The source said closed-circuit television did not capture the stabbing incident, but recorded the row that occurred outside the cell.

Police recovered a weapon at the scene and have recorded eight statements from witnesses.

Ramkumar was being held in connection with a kidnapping case that occurred in Klang last year.

Selangor CID chief Datuk Mohd Adnan Abdullah said police have completed 80 per cent of investigations into the case.

He said the investigation papers will be submitted to the deputy public prosecutor soon.