UP jail inmates found dead under mysterious circumstance, reveals probe

Sultanpur: A magisterial probe conducted into the alleged suicide of two inmates at a jail here has found that they died under “mysterious circumstances”, an official said on Monday.

Manoj Raidas alias Manju (21) and his cousin Vijay Pasi alias Karia (19) were found hanging from a tree in the Sultanpur district jail at Amhat on Jun 21.

The jail authorities had claimed that the two inmates committed suicide due to depression but, contrary to it Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Sapna Tripathi in the 24-page probe report found that the deaths took place under suspicious circumstances and did not establish that the prisoners were under depression.

The report was submitted to the district judge last week.

According to the report, the jail authorities during the probe told the CJM that the CCTV cameras installed near the 'suicide spots' were not working and also did not provide viscera reports of the victims to the investigating officer (CJM).

During the probe, statements of about 20 witnesses, including jail staff, prisoners, family members of the victims and a doctor, were recorded.

The report also raised questions over different times of death of the two prisoners, the injury marks found on Vijay's body and the colour of his nails turning blue, which point to the possibility of the two inmates being poisoned.

Although Sultanpur District Magistrate Kritika Jyotsna has confirmed receiving the investigation report, she has refused to share its contents while asserting that action will be taken accordingly.

Manoj and Vijay were arrested in the murder case of their 48-year-old neighbour Om Prakash.

Prakash was murdered while he was sleeping outside his house on May 26.

During the interrogation of the brothers, they confessed that they had killed Prakash because they mistook him for their brother Jitendra who had beaten them up during a fight a few days ago.

According to the then Sultanpur Jail Superintendent Umesh Singh, after the bodies of the two prisoners were found hanging, he immediately informed his superiors, who also visited the spot.

He said the forensic team and dog squad were also called to the spot and nothing unusual was found.

No deep injuries were found on the bodies of the prisoners and it was clear that the deaths were due to hanging.