CUTTACK: A 35-year-old inmate of a private de-addiction centre here died after some of his fellow inmates allegedly smothered him with a pillow on Monday night. Police have detained four inmates of the de-addiction centre for questioning.
The deceased, Soumya Ranjan Das, was a resident of Raja Bazar in Jatani locality of Khurda district. The incident occurred at Samapark de-addiction centre in Uttamapur within Sadar police limits.
Police said, Das was an engineer by profession and worked in Mumbai. He had come back three months back to attend his brother’s wedding. “However, his family noticed his deteriorating mental health condition and took him to a doctor at SCB medical college and hospital (SCBMCH) for check-up. The doctor prescribed him anti-depressants but Das was unwilling to consume them. Eventually as his condition worsened, his family admitted him to the de-addiction centre,” they said.
On Monday night, three inmates were reportedly trying to flee the centre but Das raised an alarm due to which they couldn’t escape. “Hence, they pushed Das to the ground and smothered him with a pillow until he died,” said a senior police officer quoting some of the eye-witnesses.
On getting to know about his death, Das’ father Rabindra Das lodged a complaint alleging his son had been murdered. He further sought an investigation into why the CCTV cameras at the centre were lying defunct. Acting on his complaint, police registered a case and launched an investigation.
The body was sent to SCBMCH for postmortem and further action could be taken after receiving the reports, police said.
