An inmate allegedly died by suicide at Faridabad’s Neemka District Jail in the early hours of Monday, triggering concern within the jail administration.
The police took the body into custody, sent it to Badshah Khan Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination and launched an investigation.
The deceased was identified as Hrithik alias Rankit Bhadana (25), a resident of Ghazipur. He had been lodged in the jail for the past 11 months in connection with various criminal cases.
His brother, Rajesh, levelled serious allegations against the jail authorities, claiming that Hrithik had been subjected to torture inside the prison. He alleged that Deputy Superintendent Sajid Khan frequently assaulted him, causing severe mental distress that ultimately drove him to take the extreme step.
Sajid Khan, however, strongly denied the allegations. He said all inmates were treated equally and asserted that an impartial inquiry would be conducted into the matter.
According to jail sources, Hrithik had around 16 criminal cases registered against him, including charges of assault and attempted murder. He had reportedly been unwell for the past few days and was admitted to the jail hospital. Sources said he allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself in the hospital bathroom late on Sunday night.
A senior police officer said an investigation was under way and no suicide note had been recovered from the spot.
Neemka Jail has been in the news previously for several serious incidents. The murder of a terror suspect in a high-security ward in February and an incident in March in which boiling oil was thrown during a dispute between inmates had raised questions about the jail administration. The latest incident has once again brought the prison’s security, surveillance and administrative procedures under scrutiny.
