An undertrial prisoner died at Baruipur Subdivisional Hospital on Tuesday, two weeks after another inmate was found dead at the same hospital, prompting fresh questions about custodial safety and monitoring arrangements in the facility. The deceased, Basudeb Naskar, 44, was in judicial custody after being arrested earlier this month on allegations of practising as a fake doctor and issuing forged death certificates for money.
Naskar’s wife, Sonali, alleged that her husband was murdered and demanded an investigation. Police have sent his body for a post-mortem examination, which is expected to establish the immediate medical cause of death.
The death follows that of another undertrial, Azharul Laskar, who was found dead in the bathroom of Baruipur Subdivisional Hospital on October 13. The two deaths within a fortnight have raised concerns over how inmates are supervised while receiving medical care and how information about their condition is communicated to their families.
According to the report, Sonali received a call from the police on Monday informing her that Naskar was unwell. When she went to the jail, she was told that he had been admitted to Baruipur Subdivisional Hospital. At the hospital, she allegedly found him lying on a bed with his hands and legs tied.
When Sonali returned to the hospital at around 10.30 am on Tuesday, she was told that Naskar had died. She alleged that the family had not been properly informed either about his hospitalisation or about the circumstances surrounding his death. These claims have not been independently established in the supplied report.
Naskar, a resident of Betberia in Baruipur, had been sent to judicial custody following a court order. The allegations against him concerned the purported practice of medicine without valid credentials and the issuing of forged death certificates in exchange for money.
The post-mortem examination is now the immediate official step in the case. The findings, along with any investigation into the circumstances of Naskar’s hospitalisation and death, will be central to determining what happened and whether custodial or hospital procedures were followed.
