Death unexplained

Published : Nov 20, 2009 00:00 IST

A view of the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad where Ashutosh Asthana was an inmate along with other accused in the scam. He died when he was being taken to hospital after he complained of uneasiness and fainted.-BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A view of the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad where Ashutosh Asthana was an inmate along with other accused in the scam. He died when he was being taken to hospital after he complained of uneasiness and fainted.-BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Ever since Sushma Asthana, wife of Ashutosh Asthana and a co-accused in the P.F. scam, alleged that her husband was murdered inside the jail to protect some vested interests, the security conditions in the Dasna jail where he died have been under scrutiny.

Speaking to the media after Ashutosh Asthanas cremation, Sushma, who is now lodged in the same jail, alleged that Asthanas death was the outcome of a deep-rooted conspiracy in collusion with the jail authorities and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

She pointed to claims made by some CBI officials investigating the scam that a charge sheet was about to be filed in the case when, suddenly, Ashutosh died on October 17, and raised doubts about her safety inside the jail.

Asked by mediapersons about the cause of Asthanas death, A.K. Singh, the medical officer who conducted the post-mortem at the MMG district hospital, Ghaziabad, did not rule out poisoning. Later, he denied that he said so. The post-mortem report, too, did not come to any conclusion on the cause of death.

The Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice D.K. Jain then directed the CBI to test the viscera samples of Asthana and submit the report in eight weeks. The Bench also ordered the district authorities to ensure adequate protection to witnesses and ordered a magisterial inquiry under Section 176(1A) of the CrPC (custodial death).

Asked about the nature of protection for the 82 accused, Akhil Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, said: The CBI has to direct us about the vulnerability of the accused people, and only then we can decide what kind of security should be given to them. Since the cause of the death could not be ascertained in the post-mortem report, we are relying on the CBI to come up with its report so that we can take further action.

Asthana was in judicial custody since April 2008. He had joined as a clerk in the Ghaziabad courts in 1993 and was elevated to the post of Central Nazir (treasury officer) in February 2008. Since his death, there have been two surprise inspections of the Dasna jail, one by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Ghaziabad on October 19 and the other by a team including the District Judge, Senior Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate of Ghaziabad on October 22. Though the inspections noted the lack of facilities inside the jail, they did not find any institutional failure and, in fact, reported that Dasna was one of the best managed jails in Uttar Pradesh.

Sunil Kumar Srivastava, ADM (City), while speaking to Frontline said: The internal management was quite good despite having at least 40 per cent more inmates than its capacity. There have been no complaints against the food and kitchen in any of the inspections. However, there is just one doctor to attend to around 4,000 inmates. We have appealed to the State government to create a vacancy for a lady doctor as there are nearly 1,000 women and children in the jail.

District Judge Vishnu Chandra Gupta said: In comparison with other jails Dasna is quite well-equipped. The only problem that is striking is the lack of doctors. There are two doctors and one of them is on permanent leave.

The lack of health facilities in the jail has led to apprehensions that Ashutosh Asthana did not get proper attention when he complained of uneasiness. Giving the sequence of events, Jail Superintendent V.K. Singh said to Frontline:

On the morning of October 17 Asthana complained of flatulence, for which he was given adequate medicines such as Ranitidine. He felt comfortable after that and then had bath. He was reading a newspaper when he complained of uneasiness to a fellow inmate and fainted in no time. The jail doctor was not there at that time. So we rushed him to the hospital with an oxygen mask and an attendant. Though we reached the hospital in around 15 minutes, his pulse dropped rapidly on the way, and he died.

V.K. Singh said the jail had just one doctor and two paramedical staff. We have tried to manage the existing resources in the best possible way and the jail has got many certificates for that. Even Kiran Bedi [Inspector General of Prisons, Tihar Jail, from 1993 to 1995] acknowledged our efforts twice, he said.

The jail had been under the scanner when two inmates, Ravindra Pradhan and Shakeel, accused in two separate murder cases, died earlier this year in mysterious circumstances. Following a judicial magistrates inquiry into Pradhans death, the National Human Rights Commissions Deputy Registrar, in a letter dated September 23, 2009, to the court, noted that there was no evidence of any poisonous substance in the viscera report. The letter said that though a few glass particles were found in the viscera, according to the three doctors who tested the viscera these could not be the cause of his death. The matter has now been referred to the state medico-legal expert. Shakeels death is still under the investigation by a judicial magistrate.

V.K. Singh said besides these two, six other inmates had died this year. There are no reasons to suspect the jail authorities. Our mortality rate is less than Tihars, known to be a model jail. We know that we are not well equipped and have written many letters to the I.G. (Prisons) for more doctors and paramedical staff. We should also upgrade our hospital from 30 beds to at least 70. The shortage of staff has to be addressed not only in the health department but in almost all the departments of the jail, he said.

He pointed out that the number of inmates dying per thousand in the jail was fewer than two in the past two years. We have around 4,281 inmates now as against a capacity of just 1,700 people. We have many social awareness programmes and health camps including drug de-addiction programmes throughout the year, he said.

The jail records also show that 84 people have died on the jail premises between 1997 and 2009. Among them, viscera samples of only 33 people had been sent for tests by the magistrate. Only one sample showed the presence of aluminium sulphide, considered to be a poisonous substance.

This was in the case of death of a person called Arun, son of Kiran Pal, on August 27, 2001. He was taken to the Meerut Court, where he complained of some problems. He was taken to a hospital in Meerut, where he stayed for two days and then died. But since he was in the jails custody, it was lodged as a custodial death, said V.K. Singh.

Yet, Asthanas death leaves many questions unanswered. He had written three letters to the court and the jail authorities complaining against many of the co-accused. In letters dated February 15, 2009, and March 3, 2009, he told the court and the jail authorities that because of his confessional statement he and his family were abused by other accused people when they were taken together in a common van to the court. He also mentioned in the letters that some of the other accused attacked him in the court on February 6, 2009. The Jail Superintendent said it was to avoid such trouble that all the accused were put up in different places in the jail.

Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
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