Five prison inmates die at Dhaka Medical in eight days

Md. Rafiqul Islam, 54, an inmate brought from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj for treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), has died. Doctors declared him dead on Monday (September 14) morning. This brings the number of deaths of prison inmates taken to DMCH to five since September 6.

The deceased Rafiqul Islam’s village home is in Kurigram. His father’s name is Md. Rajab Ali. It could not be immediately known in which case he was imprisoned. According to jail authorities, he fell ill in jail and was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment on Monday morning.

Hospital sources said after Rafiqul was taken to the emergency department, doctors conducted necessary examinations. He was later declared dead around 9:25am. His body has been sent to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College for autopsy.

Inspector Md. Habibur Rahman, in-charge of the DMCH hospital police outpost, said the body of Rafiqul Islam has been kept in the morgue for autopsy. Necessary procedures regarding the death will be completed after the autopsy.

Earlier, another prison inmate named Ali Akbar Mondal, 67, died in the emergency department of DMCH on September 7. He was also an inmate of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj. Doctors declared him dead after he was taken to the hospital in an ailing condition.

On September 6, three prison inmates under treatment at DMCH died within a span of one hour and 40 minutes. Abul Bashar, 58, Abdul Qayyum, 62, and Md. Shahadat Hossain Liton, 52, died between 7:25am and 9:05am. All three had been taken to the hospital from Dhaka Central Jail. This brings the number of deaths of prison inmates taken to DMCH to five between September 6 and 14.