Bilaspur. Bilaspur. The case of the death of a tribal youth lodged in Mahasamund district jail has taken a serious turn. The Chhattisgarh High Court has issued a notice to the state government and sought a reply within two weeks regarding the death of the youth under suspicious circumstances. The post-mortem and preliminary investigation report have pointed to custodial murder in this case. The deceased has been identified as Neeraj Bhoi (resident village Pipraud, district Mahasamund), who was arrested on 12 August 2024 under section 103 and 3(5) of BNS and sent to jail.
Mental condition deteriorated in jail, torture in the name of treatment
In the medical examination conducted after the arrest, Neeraj was found to be a victim of depression and drug addiction. His behavior in jail showed abnormality – he used to spit and try to bite other prisoners. Doctors termed it as withdrawal symptoms and started treatment, but there was no improvement in his condition.
Death in hospital on August 15, 35 injury marks
On the morning of August 15, Neeraj was taken to the hospital in a critical condition, where he was declared dead. After this, the post-mortem report on August 17 made shocking revelations. According to the report, Neeraj died due to strangulation and a total of 35 fresh injury marks were found on his body, out of which 8 injuries could have proved fatal. The medical report at the time of arrest did not mention any injury on the body, which makes it clear that all the injuries were caused while in jail. Tied to the iron gate and left in the open
The investigation has also revealed that on the nights of August 13 and 14, the jail administration tied Neeraj to the iron gate and left him in the open on the pretext of mental illness. Despite his deteriorating condition, he was physically tortured without giving proper treatment. Now a petition has been filed in the High Court considering this entire case as custodial murder. During the hearing, considering the seriousness of the matter, the court has directed the state government to file its reply within two weeks.
