Elgar Parishad case accused alleges medical negligence in Taloja jail

MUMBAI: Activist Ramesh Gaichor, currently lodged in Taloja jail in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, has alleged in a letter to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission that medical negligence has resulted in the death of three jailed inmates in the last few months. Holding the chief medical officer responsible for Abhang’s death, Gaichor added, “It is a matter of great injustice and inhumanity that a person who had been imprisoned for 5 years and was on the verge of being acquitted, was subjected to such neglect and apathy by the jail authorities,” he alleged. Citing another case of alleged negligence, Gaichor stated in his letter that Ramesh Sainkhe suffered a fatal heart attack in Taloja jail, claiming that “for 15-20 days, this young man had been complaining of chest pain and requesting to be transferred to an outside hospital for treatment but wasn’t”. According to Section 11 of the Maharashtra Prisons Rules, 1970, “Urgent cases requiring immediate surgical or other treatment which cannot be given in the prison hospital shall be transferred at once to the local Civil Hospital and report made to the Regional Deputy Inspector General.” Gaichor has urged the SHRC to “conduct a thorough investigation into the death of Ajit Keru Abhang and the overall medical care provided to prisoners in Taloja Jail”.