Under-trial prisoner dies under mysterious circumstances in Aligarh jail

AGRA: A 22-year-old under-trial prisoner died under mysterious circumstances in the Aligarh prison on Friday, a day after he was lodged there on charges of drug peddling.

While police claimed he had committed suicide, his family alleged conspiracy, pointing out that he had died in the presence of a policeman, who had taken him to the jail hospital after he complained of stomachache. The family had initially refused to take custody of the body of the deceased, Mohammad Furkan Khan, a resident of Johra Bagh, but agreed to do so after an assurance of inquiry.

Aligarh district

magistrate CB Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. He told TOI that the inquiry will examine the allegations levelled by the deceased’s family. City magistrate Sachin Kumar Singh will conduct the inquiry and submit the report within 15 days.

Singh said that body has been sent for postmortem and the whole process is being videographed.

“My brother, a battery rickshaw driver, was arrested by Kawarsi police on Thursday under

NDPS Act

and was later sent to

Aligarh jail

. On Friday night, we got a call from the Aligarh prison and we were told that he had died,” said Salim Khan, Furkan’s brother.

Salim added that Furkan died in the presence of the police so they are responsible for his death.

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