Under-trial trying to escape falls from tree, dies

A prisoner died after falling from a tree. Police said he was trying to escape from Suri Correctional Home on Wednesday afternoon.

However, he accidentally fell on a concrete slab and received heavy injuries there. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at Suri hospital.

Police said Prasanta Baral, a 65-year-old under-trial was resident of Murshidabad’s Kandi. However, a section of the district police officers believe that the man was mentally disturbed.

He committed suicide there after jumping from the tree and falling on the concrete slab.

“Baral’s wife filed a case of domestic violence against him. He was arrested and taken to the court. The court remanded him to judicial custody. He was mentally disturbed. He did not talk to the other prisoners. He was a mental patient. He was in mental treatment. I think he committed suicide,” said a police officer.

However, few police officers believe that he was trying to flee from the jail. 

He intentionally climbed the tree to pass the wall of the correctional home. But accidentally slipped from there and died.

However, the jail authority is probing the whole incident. “We’ll check whether there was any such negligence on the part of jail staff. It is definitely a serious incident,” said an officer of state correctional services department.

It will be recalled that an under-trial at Burdwan correctional home died while he was on the way to a hospital in September, last year. He was arrested under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act from Asansol sub-division.

The jail authority said that the under-trial prisoner felt chest pain while playing cards with other prisoners. He was rushed to the hospital. He died before reaching there.