Araria: A 25-year-old prisoner from West Bengal died under suspicious circumstances in Bihar’s Araria jail on Thursday, sparking demands from his family for a judicial investigation. The deceased, Shibu Ghosh, was a resident of Phuldanga in Malda district and had been serving a five-year sentence for liquor smuggling since February 2021.
According to jail officials, Ghosh had been suffering from illness for the past two years and was undergoing treatment at Patna’s PMCH after being referred from Bhagalpur Medical College. However, his elder brother, Indra Ghosh, has alleged foul play.
Indra said he and his wife Pampa Ghosh had applied online to meet Shibu on Wednesday. When they arrived at the jail on Thursday, two policemen brought Shibu in their arms and he was unresponsive. “They carried him like he was already dead. Later, he was taken to Sadar Hospital on a toto where doctors declared him dead,” Indra said.
The family has called for a judicial probe into the circumstances of his death, especially since Shibu had completed four years and ten months of his sentence and had only two months left for release. The jail administration maintained that Shibu was ill and receiving treatment, while social workers and family members have questioned the conditions and oversight within the prison.
This incident comes a day after another prisoner in Araria jail attempted suicide by hanging but survived.
