BHUBANESWAR: A 35-year-old undertrial prisoner (UTP) of Choudwar Circle Jail died at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Wednesday. The UTP, Saroj Das alias Bapi, was diagnosed with acute liver cirrhosis and had been hospitalised since one month.
Bapi was arrested by the Government Railway Police on charges of attempt to murder and grievous assault. He was sent to judicial custody by the court of SDJM, Cuttack on May 10.
A day after he was lodged in the prison, Bapi complained of acute gastritis and was attended by the jail doctor. After his condition deteriorated, the authorities shifted Bapi to SCB on May 12, Choudwar Jail Superintendent Niranjan Das said.
‘’Bapi was addicted to alcohol. He was treated in Medicine and Gastroenterology departments before being shifted to the ICU on Sunday. The UTP breathed his last on Wednesday at 9.30 am,’’ Das added.
Bapi was a native of Das Sahi within Malgodown police limits in Cuttack. Bapi’s body was handed over to his wife after autopsy.
Meanwhile, family members of Bapi alleged that he was subjected to mental and physical torture in the prison which resulted in his death. “There are multiple injury marks on his body which implies that he was beaten in jail,” a family member said. Bapi’s family staged a protest at Ranihat square demanding an inquiry into his death.
The jail authorities, on the other hand, clarified that the injuries on Bapi’s body were self inflicted.