Convict dies in Belgaum jail

A 41-year-old convict, serving a life sentence, has died under mysterious circumstances at the Hindalgi Central jail in Belgaum.

The deceased Kalappa Annapur of Hukkeri taluk in Belgaum district had been convicted for murder and was serving a life sentence since August 18, 2005.

Kalappa’s death comes at a time when more than a hundred inmates of the prison were sufferring from vommitting and diarrhoea after consuming a sweet dish prepared to mark Basava Jayanthi recently.

The condition of Kalappa, who was among the inmates of the jail who fell sick, turned worse and he was shifted to the Belgaum district hospital, where he died on Monday. A doctor Shankar, who had suspected consumption of contaminated water for the sickness afflicting the jail inmates, told reporters that he had treated more than hundred such sick inmates of the jail.

But, jail superintendent D B Kadli lent a new twist to the tale by claiming that the convict Kalappa Annapur had died due to cardiac arrest. He has ruled out the possibility of either food poisoning or water contamination.

Meanwhile, the authorities have decided to send a sample of water from the jail to the district laboratory and carry out a post-mortem of the deceased convict to arrive at the truth behind his death.

The jail authorities have submitted a preliminary report to the Belgaum Rural police station and a case has been registered.