THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The mix-up in identifying an undertrial inmate of the Central Prison here, who died at the Government Medical College Hospital on July 9, rocked the Assembly on Thursday with the Opposition seeking a thorough probe into the incident and action against the officials concerned. The Opposition members, who sought to raise a discussion in the House on the subject, later staged a walkout.

In an emotion-charged presentation of the Opposition case, T. K. Devakumar (CPI-M) said Rajesh (29), the youth whose identity was mistakenly attributed to the dead undertrial Anil Kumar (36), was distraught after learning about the incident, wanted to know what answer the Government would give to the parents of Anil Kumar, who hailed from Vilappilsala in the suburbs of the capital city. The case of mistaken identity came to light only 10 days later when Rajesh raised alarm inside the prison, he pointed out.

Mr. Devakumar alleged that Anil Kumar's body was passed off as that of Rajesh's despite the latter's uncle having raised about the identity of the body. The body was also not easily identifiable as it had got bloated. The RDO, who conducted the inquest and the doctor, who had conducted the postmortem examination, should have cross-checked the identification marks on the body of the dead and that recorded at the prison before releasing the body. This was not done. When nobody could remain in jail without being counted and identified everybody, how did Anil Kumar's disappearance go unaccounted for, he asked.

The CPI(M) member said the incident could not be seen in isolation and it was a miniature of the criminality that ruled the roost in jails across the State. There was need for a comprehensive inquiry into the incident and action against the RDO, the surgeon who had conducted the postmortem and the jail officials who were responsible for the incident, he said.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy described the incident a `genuine mistake' and claimed that Rajesh's relatives had identified the body and acknowledged receipt of the body in writing. The Government, he said, would inquire into the matter and take action against the persons responsible. He would not like to justify what had happened. The incident was most unfortunate, Mr. Chandy said.

Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan, who led the Opposition walkout, wanted to know why the postmortem was conducted before Rajesh's relatives reached the hospital. He also termed inconceivable that the jail officials did not realise their mistake till Rajesh raised alarm. Agreeing with him, K. P. Rajendran (CPI) asked the Chief Minister not to believe what he had been told by the officials and conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.

R. Balakrishna Pillai (KC-B) pointed out that there was a striking similarity between the detainee numbers of Rajesh and Anil Kumar (7273 and 7372), there was little possibility of identities getting mixed up because the two have been in prison for about nine months and would have been addressed by their name by other prisoners. T. M. Jacob (KC-Jacob) said what had happened was a not a `genuine mistake' as claimed by the Chief Minister, but a major crime. The very fact that the Chief Minister came to know about it only after 11 days showed that the jail officials had tried to hush it up. It was a case of gross negligence. Stern action should be taken against those responsible for it, he said.

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