NEW DELHI: In the first Covid death reported from Tihar Jail, a 62-year-old inmate serving life term at the Mandoli complex died on June 15. Kanwar Singh was asymptomatic, but the test results confirmed on Sunday that he was suffering from Covid-19. After the results were handed over to the jail authorities, the inmates of the cell where Singh was staying and the jail officers whom he had interacted with were sent on quarantine.
A Tihar officer said that Singh was found dead in his sleep. As a part of the jail manual, an inquest proceeding was conducted in the supervision of the metropolitan magistrate during which swabs were collected and sent for Covid examination. “We have initiated a contact tracing exercise to find out who all had come in his contact during the fortnight before his death,” said a jail officer.
Jail sources say that Singh was convicted in 2016 for a murder he had committed in the Aman Vihar area of outer Delhi. He had been in Mandoli Jail since July 2018 after the court sentenced him for life imprisonment.
On June 14, he had gone to bed as usual. After sometimes, the inmates in his cell found that he had stopped breathing and informed the jail authorities about it. Singh was then shifted to the hospital in the jail complex in an unconscious state, where he was later declared dead. There was no apparent cause of death found by the doctors who had examined him a few days before the incident.
Singh was sharing the barrack with 28 other inmates. “We conducted Covid-19 test for all 28 inmates who were sharing the barrack with the deceased. So far, health of all the inmates is fine,” said a Tihar spokesperson.
The total number of Covid-19 positive inmates as of Sunday is 23, out of which 16 have recovered and one person has died. As many as 45 prison staff have also been infected with the disease and seven of them have recovered
A Tihar officer said that Singh was found dead in his sleep. As a part of the jail manual, an inquest proceeding was conducted in the supervision of the metropolitan magistrate during which swabs were collected and sent for Covid examination. “We have initiated a contact tracing exercise to find out who all had come in his contact during the fortnight before his death,” said a jail officer.
Jail sources say that Singh was convicted in 2016 for a murder he had committed in the Aman Vihar area of outer Delhi. He had been in Mandoli Jail since July 2018 after the court sentenced him for life imprisonment.
On June 14, he had gone to bed as usual. After sometimes, the inmates in his cell found that he had stopped breathing and informed the jail authorities about it. Singh was then shifted to the hospital in the jail complex in an unconscious state, where he was later declared dead. There was no apparent cause of death found by the doctors who had examined him a few days before the incident.
Singh was sharing the barrack with 28 other inmates. “We conducted Covid-19 test for all 28 inmates who were sharing the barrack with the deceased. So far, health of all the inmates is fine,” said a Tihar spokesperson.
The total number of Covid-19 positive inmates as of Sunday is 23, out of which 16 have recovered and one person has died. As many as 45 prison staff have also been infected with the disease and seven of them have recovered
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