27-yr-old undertrial dies at Dasna Jail, inquiry ordered

The district administration maintained that two inquiries are likely to take place into the case. (Representational)

An undertrial prisoner accused in a robbery case died under mysterious circumstances in Ghaziabad’s Dasna jail, four days after he was arrested by Indirapuram police. While the 27-year-old man’s family alleged he was beaten in judicial custody, a magisterial inquiry to look into the case has been initiated, officials said.

The man, Hazi Javed, was rushed to the Ghaziabad district hospital on Tuesday night with injury marks on his body, police sources said. On Wednesday, Javed’s brother, Masroor Ahmad, alleged a conspiracy behind his death, maintaining that Javed’s “rivals” and the “staff” at Dasna jail had severely beaten him up.

“I had gone to meet my brother in Dasna jail on Sunday and he was completely fine. He had been arrested by Indirapuram police four days ago in connection with a robbery case and had been sent to judicial custody at Dasna jail,” Ahmad said. On Tuesday night, Javed’s family received a phone call from MMG Hospital, informing them that he was “unwell”.

“By the time we reached the district hospital, he had died. He had injury marks all over his body and it seemed as if he had been severely beaten up,” Ahmad claimed. Alleging that he was framed in a robbery case of Rs 4 lakh, Ahmad said, “Just a week ago, his wife had given birth to a daughter. What will I tell them? There are some people who had threatened my brother and they framed him in this robbery case.”

Responding to the allegations, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Hari Narayan Singh said, “In any such case, a magisterial inquiry takes place and the probe will be ordered in this case, too. We do not know what happened inside the jail. The probe will shed light on the case.”

The district administration maintained that two inquiries are likely to take place into the case. “The magisterial inquiry has been ordered by the District Judge and a letter recommending the same has been sent. Meanwhile, an internal inquiry will be undertaken by a two-member committee of the ADM and the City Magistrate, and it is expected to be completed in 15 days. There are allegations from the family and those concerns will be looked into. It is difficult to comment on the case since the probe is underway,” said Ritu Maheshwari, District Magistrate, Ghaziabad.