Tension erupted on Wednesday in Soro after an under-trial prisoner (UTP) lodged at the Soro Sub-Jail died under mysterious circumstances late on Tuesday night. The deceased was identified as Kamalakant Barik, a native of Apartipur of Bhadrak.
Reports said he was shifted to the nearby Community Healthcare Centre after detection of injury in his neck and eyes. However, he was declared received dead.
The family members of the deceased after receiving information reached the Soro sub jail and alleged that he was killed in the premises of the jail. They, besides lodging an FIR with the Soro police, also sat on dharna before the jail with a five-point charter of demands. The deceased and his younger brother Dushasan Barik were lodged in Bhadrak jail since August last in connection with the death of the former's wife.
However, both of them recently had been shifted from Bhadrak jail as part of Covid decongestion measure in the jail. The family members also had alleged that the life of Dushasan was under danger in Soro jail and demanded his shifting to Bhadrak jail. They also had demanded transfer of Jailer Priyambanda Panda.
Bhadrak Jail Superintendent Rishinath Nayak and Soro PS IIC Madhumita Mohanty began investigation into the incident.
Despite several attempts, contact with jailer Panda couldn’t be established. The body of Barik had been sent for postmortem. Notably, a few months ago, another under-trial prisoner had died at the Soro Sub-Jail.
