CUTTACK: A 33-year-old murder convict, serving life sentence in the Choudwar Circle jail, was found hanging from a tree on the jail premises here on Saturday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Bishnu Charan Swain of Samantarapur within Tangi police limits. Sources said Bishnu had landed in jail as an under-trial prisoner after murdering his cousin in June 2021. In January this year, he was found guilty of the offence and sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to jail sources, Bishnu had been missing from his cell since the evening. On search, he was found hanging from the tree. He was rushed to SCB medical college and hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Sources said he was recently granted a three-day parole to attend his mother’s obsequies, and returned to jail on May 17. However, during the parole, Bishnu allegedly had an altercation with his wife who had been living separately with their daughter at her parental house, and had come to attend the funeral.
Choudwar jail superintendent Pradipta Kumar Behera said Bishnu had spoken to his wife on phone in the morning. “Mental stress might have led him to take the extreme step,” he added.
“Acting on the report of the jail superintendent, an unnatural death case has been registered in Choudwar police station. As per the protocol, the body of the deceased was handed over to the family after a postmortem in presence of an executive magistrate. Though, the family members are yet to lodge a written complaint in this connection, the custodial death will be investigated as per the guidelines of National Human Rights Commission,” said a senior police officer.
Meanwhile, the incident has raised questions on the security measures in place at the jail. In a similar incident on August 5, 2024, a 55-year-old murder convict was found hanging inside a cell of Choudwar Circle Jail.
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