JOIN USA 32-year-old undertrial prisoner in Tihar Jail was brought dead at west Delhi’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Thursday.
The deceased was taken to the hospital after he was found unconscious in jail number eight, police said. It is the 18th death of an inmate in one of the country’s maximum security prisons and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia.
The deceased has been identified as Prithvi. “There were injury marks on the body, but the reason behind the death is yet to be ascertained,” said a police officer. Tihar spokesperson Mukesh Prasad said Prithvi’s body was discovered by guards on Thursday morning.
“Prithvi was not responding in his cell in jail number eight and was declared brought dead at DDU Hospital,” Prasad said. Jail authorities have questioned fellow inmates. His family members have also been informed and the body preserved for post-mortem.
Sources said stab wounds were found on Prithvi’s body, and he was bleeding when found by guards. Though jail authorities denied it was a murder, police said they were probing all angles.
A judicial investigation has been ordered into the death under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The enquiry report would also include the post-mortem report by forensic specialists.
The death comes a day after the National Human Rights Commission sent a notice to Principal Secretary (Home) and Director General (Prisons) over media reports that there are about 20 gangs of inmates operating in the jail. Taking action over the recent deaths, Director General (Prisons) Alok Verma has issued a circular to jail superintendents listing remedial procedures to prevent the incidents. The authorities have also stepped up security and intensified frisking.
On May 11, an inmate was also stabbed to death by three others in front of two sewadars, while two murder convicts were found dead inside their cell on May 14.
Days before that, an inmate was killed by six others with blades and improvised forks and spoons and a Nigerian prisoner was also found dead on March 27. Data reveals that 36 deaths were reported from the jail in 2014 and 35 in 2013. The head warder of the jail was suspended after the May 14 deaths.