Prisoner dies mysteriously in Haripur jail

HARIPUR: A prisoner died in the jail in mysterious circumstances, sources said here on Monday.However, family sources accused the jail authorities of torturing the inmate while the authorities denied the charges.

Official sources said that Fiaz, 33, a resident of Peshawar, was undergoing life-term in Central Prison Haripur after his conviction. They said that at around 1am on Monday, his condition worsened due to asthma attack and he was removed to District Headquarters Hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead. The official sources claimed that the prisoner had long been suffering from a respiratory disease, which led to his death.

However, the deceased’s father Bakhtiar Khan contested the official account, saying that his son had been in qasoori chaki (punishment cell) for the last over six months and went on hunger strike a few days ago. To force him to end the strike, his son was taken to security zone situated near the death cell where the jail staff beat him mercilessly, leading to his death.

Talking to newsmen, he said that the body was carrying injury marks on neck, forehead and other body parts that showed the deceased was subjected to torture.He demanded judicial inquiry into the mysterious death of his son. When approached for comments, the jail superintendent was not available and his junior staff denied the charges and said it was natural death as he was asthmatic for the last several years.