Garhwa prisoners protest against inmate's death

GARHWA: Blaming the jail administration for the death of a prisoner, Afzal Ansari (35), in the Garhwa sub-jail on Wednesday, 626 prisoners of the jail staged a dharna with the body of the deceased on the prison premise for four hours on Thursday. They demanded suspension of the jail doctor, Ramashish Chaudhary; transfer of jailer, Raghunath Pandey; a compensation of Rs 5 lakh; a job to the nearest kin and a judicial probe into the death.
The prisoners were adamant about their demands even after being persuaded by the jail administration to lift their dharna. Later, after being assured by the Garhwa SDM-cum-jail superintendent, A Muthu Kumar, that their demands would be met, the prisoners called off the dharna.
Ansari, was a resident of Arsalli village in the Bhawnathpur police station area of the district. He was arrested by the Nagar Untari police on charges of goat theft on September 11 and was sent to jail on September 12. Since then he was undergoing treatment in the jail, said an inmate.
Sources alleged he was tortured by the Nagar Untari officer in-charge, Amitabh Roy, before sending him to jail. Several prisoners said Ansari was ill ever since he was lodged in the jail and his condition continued to deteriorate every day. Afzal had requested the jailer that he be treated properly. But the jailer did not pay attention to his plea, said a prisoner.
A Muthu Kumar said a thorough enquiry would be made into the allegations. A report to this effect will be sent to the IG (jail) after the enquiry.
Leaders of various political parties demanded a judicial probe. While the JMM district secretary Manoj Thakur demanded a judicial probe into the case, the CPI (ML) leader, Kishor Kumar, said the party would approach the human rights commission. "It was an ordinary case of goat theft. Ansari should not have been beaten up they way he was," added Kumar.