Ht Correspondent
JORHAT, Oct 13: The Jorhat Senior Superintendent of Police, Shwetank Mishra, on Monday stated that a detailed investigation is underway into the custodial death of Pritam Dutta inside the Jorhat Police Station, while allegations against personnel of the Bhogdoi Police Outpost will be probed separately by an Additional SP from Sivasagar to ensure impartiality.
Addressing reporters, Mishra said that the overall investigation into the death in custody is being conducted by the Additional SP (Headquarter), Jorhat, while the case registered by Dutta’s family against Bhogdoi Police IC B. Gohain (FIR No. 534/2025 under Section 105 of the BNS) will be probed independently by Sivasagar authorities.
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The custodial death has been registered as an unnatural death (UD) case No. 56/2025 at Jorhat Police Station.
Pritam had been arrested from his residence at No. 2 Chengeligaon by Bhogdoi Police Outpost personnel on charges of alleged involvement in a theft case (No. 521/2025) under sections 331(4) and 305(A) of BNS.
According to Mishra, Pritam was brought to Jorhat Police Station at 3 a.m. on Sunday after undergoing a medical examination at JMCH.
of the incident and conducted videography as part of the preliminary investigation.
The investigation revealed that at 7:26 am, Pritam asked the sentry on duty in the lockup for a cup of tea.
After relaying the request to a colleague, the sentry returned at 7:30 am to find Pritam missing from the lockup, initially assuming he had gone to the toilet.
On not receiving a response, the sentry discovered Pritam hanging inside the toilet from a strip of blanket used as a mattress.
The sentry immediately attempted to save him and informed the emergency officer, after which Pritam was rushed to JMCH, where he was declared brought dead.
Mishra added that the inquest report noted ligature marks on the body, and the post-mortem was conducted on Monday by a panel of three doctors following NHRC guidelines, with videography documenting the procedure.
He further stated that, as per the magisterial enquiry ordered by the Deputy Commissioner, the police will also request a judicial probe into the incident.
Highlighting standard procedures, the SP explained that as per state police SOPs, persons arrested at night by outposts are lodged at police stations to allow real-time monitoring via CCTV from the headquarters.
Mishra noted that Pritam had previous arrests on at least five occasions for various offences.
The investigation continues to ascertain the circumstances surrounding this tragic custodial death.
