Journalism of Courage
The family members of one of the two convicts found dead under mysterious circumstances at Tihar Jail on Thursday morning has alleged foul play. They claimed that their nephew was not a drug addict and that he was murdered.
Police in their preliminary investigation had claimed that the convicts were suspected to have died of a drug overdose.
One of the victims, identified as Amit (26), was found unconscious in Ward 2 of Jail Complex 8 on Thursday.
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“Jail authorities and inmates claim that my nephew Amit was a drug addict, but they are lying. He doesn’t even smoke, then how can he do drugs?” Amit’s uncle Suresh Kumar said.
Kumar claimed that they found several injury marks on his body and alleged that Amit was beaten to death by other inmates. “We suspect that the inmates might have killed him. All of them hatched a conspiracy to save the real culprits,” he alleged.
Jail authorities have claimed that there were no external injury marks on the body of the victims. The autopsies were conducted at Lady Hardinge Hospital on Friday afternoon by a medical board comprising three doctors. Sources said initial findings of the autopsy state that the two convicts died of a drug overdose.
“Inmates told us that the victims had “inhaled something” on Wednesday night. Other inmates had informed the warden about this matter. They were found unconscious on Thursday morning and were checked by a Tihar doctor. They were later taken to hospital,” a police officer said.
A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the deaths.
Safety within the jail is a growing concern as Tihar has seen 17 deaths in the last four months.
