UTPs family cries murder

JHARSUGUDA: Mystery shrouds the death of a UTP, identified as Ullas Pradhan (22) who allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a ventilator inside a toilet in Jharsuguda sub-jail on Wednesday morning.He was lodged in the jail after being arrested for allegedly killing his sister-in-law Lokeswari Pradhan (35) on April 24. A native of Kureimal village under Rengali police limits of the district, Pradhan’s family was not informed about the death and they could know about it only from news channels. They then rushed to the Jharsuguda sub-jail where they were informed that Pradhan had been taken to the district headquarters hospital after he tried to commit suicide. At the hospital they came to know that Pradhan was brought dead. They suspected that Pradhan could have been murdered inside the jail and did not commit suicide as claimed by the jail authorities.Sources said Pradhan had participated in a yoga camp on the jail in the morning and had left for bath. Later, it was found out that Pradhan had committed suicide inside the toilet. Although Sub-Jail Superintendent Kulamani Behera denied the murder charge, former State BJP president Suresh Pujari who visited the hospital said that Pradhan’s body bore injury marks. He demanded a probe into the death and refused to accept that it was a case of suicide.