INDIA: A detainee dies under mysterious circumstances in Alipurdura Jail in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the death of an under trial prisoner (UTP)  at Alipurduar jail, Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India on 8 March 2005.

Prajit Das (30) attached to an organisation called Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO) was arrested on 30 March 2004 from his village Chyangmari, and then later released on bail on 7 December 2004. He was however re-arrested on 9 December 2004 and placed under judicial custody where he remained until his death on 8 March 2005.

The Alipurduar prison authorities claim that Prajit fell ill on March 8 and they arranged to take him to the local sub-divisional hospital but he died on the way. However, since there was no previous history of any illness, the circumstances surrounding his death do seem suspicious.

AHRC also notes with great distress that there is no arrangement of permanent doctors in the jail. This is a widespread problem faced by almost all jails at the district and sub-divisional levels in India. In emergencies, cases are referred outside, to the government hospitals in that city. Already overloaded and overworked, they often have no beds so that cases are deferred and have to wait a long while. Medical infrastructure in jails is also poor and many prisoners suffering from illnesses either fail to get corrective treatment on time or are susceptible to many more diseases.

We call for your urgent intervention in this case. Please send a letter to the Minister in charge of the Department of Jails of West Bengal requesting him to order a thorough and proper enquiry so that the actual reasons for Prajit’s death are discovered. The post-mortem should also be done following strict and correct procedures and the results made public. We also urge the government of India to seriously take up the issue of shortage of doctors and medical infrastructure in jails. It is a long ensuing problem and steps ought to be implemented to overcome this problem.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Prajit Das, age 30
Address: Chyangmari Village, Police station-Kumargram, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India
Place of incident: Alipurduar Jail, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India
Date of incident: 8 March 2005

Case Details:

Prajit Das, a 30-year man belonged to the Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO) involved in demanding a separate state in northern West Bengal. Members of the organisation believed that those living in north Bengal were oppressed by others, particularly the government of West Bengal. On 30 March 2004, Prajit was arrested and then later released on bail on 7 December 2004. He was however once again arrested two days later, a procedure legally known as the ‘arrest on connection case’. According to MASUM, this is a method used by the police to often detain a person in custody even when not required. When released in a particular case, the police arrest him in another case, often false and not disclosed earlier.

On 8 March 2005, the jail authorities announced that Prajit died on the way to the local sub-divisional hospital after he fell sick. It is reported that no permanent doctors are on duty at the jail. The jail superintendent, Mr Biplab Das, conceded that though a large number of requests have been sent to their higher authorities asking for doctors, these have been largely ignored and in many cases they often need to approach the railway hospital to treat their prisoners. It is learnt from the Sub-divisional officer of Alipurduar, Soumitra Mohan, that till the post mortem reports come out, the actual reasons for death cannot be stated.

The AHRC urges the Government of West Bengal to immediately look into this case and order a full impartial investigation into this incident. The post mortem should be done following strict procedures and the results made open to the public. We also urge the Government of India to take up the issue of shortage of doctors in jails seriously and also improve the existing medical infrastructure, which is fairly poor especially in district and sub-divisional jails. Denying prisoners right to proper and timely medical aid is not only a violation of their rights but also quite dangerous since contagious and infectious diseases could spread not only in these overcrowded and space constrained jails but also outside, on the prisoners’ release.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax and email to the Minister in charge of the Department of Jails and urge him to order a thorough and independent inquiry into this incident so that further action could be taken on discovering the causes for the concerned prisoner’s death.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER