Prison officials order probe into Indrani’s drug overdose

Mumbai: A day after doctors at J.J. Hospital said Sheena Bora murder accused Indrani Mukerjea’s symptoms were consistent with a drug overdose, the prisons department on Monday ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.

Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay said the matter is being looked into under the supervision of a top prisons officer. “Special Inspector General of Police Rajvardhan Sinha has been instructed to conduct an inquiry. All aspects of the case will be probed,” Mr. Upadhyay said.

Ms. Mukerjea was taken to J.J. Hospital in a semi-conscious condition on April 6, and has been admitted since then. Although her condition is said to be stable, her symptoms have raised questions as to how she might have accessed drugs.

According to doctors, Ms. Mukerjea is personally given tablets by guards at the Byculla women’s prison. The guards place the tablet in her mouth, which she washes down with water, and at no point the drugs are placed in her hands.

“Inquiries are under way with the prison guards to find out if all due procedures were followed. We are also making inquiries with Ms. Mukerjea’s fellow inmates and are scanning closed circuit television camera footage,” Mr. Upadhyay said.

Sources said laxity in following procedures was a strong possibility, which might have led to her taking an overdose. “We suspect that the guards, instead of administering the medicines they are supposed to, might have simply handed over the tablets to her. She could have stored them over a number of days and then taken an overdose. Inquiries with her fellow inmates will help shed light on the aspect,” a prisons officer said.