Nawada jailor booked in undertrial burning case

An FIR has been lodged against the jailor of Nawada jail and three others following the death of an undertrial Rupesh Paswan, who was allegedly set on fire inside the jail on Sunday, police said.
Paswan's mother Chandmuni Devi lodged an FIR with the Nawada Town police yesterday accusing the jailor Lal Babu Singh and three inmates - Pramod Rajak, Gopi Yadav and Bramhadev Yadav of killing her son, they said.
In her FIR, she has alleged that the four attacked her son because they believed he, along with other inmates, had started an agitation inside the jail demanding better food and proper behaviour by prison authorities. The agitation had continued for three days when Paswan was burnt.

Nawada police officials said a team would visit the jail to start investigation in the case soon.
Paswan, who succumbed to his burn injuries at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Monday after being referred from Nawada Sadar Hospital, had accused the jailor and the three inmates of pouring kerosene and setting him on fire.
He had been incarcerated for almost four years, facing trial in cases under Arms Act.

Confirming that the FIR has been lodged, Magadh Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Pradeep Kumar Srivastava said since the incident happened inside the jail, it would take some time and proper investigation to find out what actually happened.

He also said that a separate FIR had been registered by the jail authorities in the matter.
"The DM and SP will probe the incident. Anything concrete could be said in the case only after it," Srivastava said.
On the other hand, the FIR registered by the jail authorities accused a few inmates of instigating Paswan to immolate himself as part of the agitation.
Prisons DIG (Administration) Uma Kant Sharan said the jail inmates were agitating after mobile phones were seized from them.
"A case has been registered against some inmates for instigating Paswan to commit suicide," he added.
Meanwhile, Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and directed the Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services) to submit a report by August 14.

The BHRC has also asked Nawada DM and SP to submit a joint report in the matter by August 14, when the next hearing has been scheduled.