Chandigarh Police lodge murder case in ‘mysterious’ death of convict four years ago

As per jail records, Mohan Lal was convicted in a case of dacoity-murder with life imprisonment. He had completed around 14 years of his term and was likely to get a premature release from prison.

A Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC), Gaurav Datta, had been appointed for conducting a magisterial enquiry for looking into the possible reason behind the death of the convict. Sources said, “A doctor had observed injuries on the neck of Mohan Lal and didn’t rule out foul play as a cause behind the death. Eyewitnesses, however, had later claimed that Lal was not assaulted by anyone. He was a heart patient.” Subsequently, the matter was referred to the National Human Rights Commission. The family members of Lal, who was residing at Mansa Devi in Panchkula, was granted a compensation of Rs 3 lakh in February 2021.

A police officer said, “An FIR for murder has been registered against unknown people. The circumstances and the nature of injuries will be examined during the subsequent police investigations. A record of the people, who were lodged along with Mohan Lal in jail at the time of incident, will be obtained from jail authorities. Opinions over the postmortem report will also be taken from the special panel of doctors of PGI.” The case was registered under Section 302 of IPC at PS 49.