Rights body highlights unnatural deaths of prisoners in Bengal prison

Kolkata, July 31 A rights body, on Thursday, highlighted regular instances of deaths of prisoners in one particular jail in West Bengal and demanded an investigation into the incidents by a retired judge of Calcutta High Court. The jail in question is Burdwan Central Correctional Home in East Burdwan district of West Bengal.

According to a statement issued by Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a young prisoner died in Burdwan jail on Wednesday. The correction home authorities said that the prisoner named Subhabrata Dutta died by suicide by hanging himself in the toilet.

A few months ago, pointed out APDR, in March 2025, another young prisoner died in this same correctional home whose name was Bishwajit Santra. The administration, however, then said that it was a case of suicide due to love affair.

Rights activist and APDR general secretary Ranjit Sur said that after their our investigation, they found out that the jail authorities had beaten up Santra and kept him in a cell under solitary confinement continuously after finding a mobile phone in his possession.

“The boy's family had alleged that he was being tortured. On Wednesday, the death of a young prisoner in Burdwan Jail again intensified that suspicion. The prisoner's family has said that he was murdered," Sur added.

According to him, at least two prisoners died unnaturally in Burdwan jail also in 2024.

"What is happening in Burdwan jail? This is very concerning. The state government is fully responsible for the safety and well-being of prisoners inside the jail. In this situation, the government cannot remain silent about such unnatural deaths of prisoners in a row inside a jail," said Sur.

Asserting that the truth behind such unnatural deaths must come out, Sur further said that they feared that there was a big problem in the administration of Burdwan jail. “We demand that a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court be allowed to conduct a full investigation into the incidents in Burdwan jail. That report should be made public. The state government's continued silence is deepening our suspicions," he added.

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