Mystery haunts the death of an undertrial at the district hospital here in the early hours of Friday, while the authorities of Hindalga Central Prison described it as a case of unnatural death but not out of beating or torture by jail officers.
Chief Superintendent of the prison T.P. Shesha said that Shakher Arjun Mandolkar, a 20-year-old youth arrested on charges of theft over an year ago and incarcerated in Barrack No.3 (where prisons with psychological disorders are housed) of the prison, was suffering from epilepsy and suffered convulsions at times. Around 3-30 a.m., he developed convulsions and fell down in the toilet and suffered a minor injury on his left cheek.
He was shifted to the district hospital immediately as his pulse rate was very feeble and the blood pressure low. But he died around 4-50 a.m. during the course of treatment at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit.
Quoting the deceased’s medical record, he said Shakher, who was allegedly a habitual offender and resident of Gangwadi, a slum in the city, was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and was a drug addict. He was suffering from respiratory problems and was under medication and was hospitalised at the district hospital as per the directions of JMFC-II court in December last. After returning to the prison, he did not complain about his health problems till August 31, when was shifted to the hospital within the prison.
Mr.Shesha described as baseless allegations that Shakher was beaten up by the jail authorities over a petty reason. The allegation was made by two accomplices of the deceased in front of a section of the media on the court premises where they were brought in connection with a trial on Friday afternoon. He said the two undertrials had not identified any official while claiming that Shakher was beaten up.
However, as per the norms, a magisterial Inquiry was immediately conducted by a Judge heading JMFC-IV, while the report of the post-mortem would be available only after two or three months. A case of unnatural death has been registered with the APMC Police Station, he added.
