71-year-old NDPS accused dies in Balaghat district hospital; son alleges false case

Govind Agrawal, 71, who was lodged in jail in Balaghat district in a case under the NDPS Act, died at the district hospital on Friday night. He was the son of Ramji Agrawal. His post-mortem will be conducted on Saturday in the presence of a magistrate. Family members reached the hospital on hearing of his death.

Parsawada police station had arrested Govind and produced him in court on November 2. He had been in jail since then.

According to Jailer Sahlam, Govind reached the jail on November 2 and had been ill since then. A doctor examined him on November 4. When his condition worsened on November 8, he was admitted to the district hospital in the afternoon and remained there. The jailer said he died at about 2:15 am due to a breathing problem.

Govind's son Pankaj Agrawal has accused the police of implicating his father in a false case. According to Pankaj, police had told him that the accused arrested in the NDPS case had named his father during questioning. Pankaj said that when he himself asked the accused, they denied having named Govind. Pankaj also said his father died on Friday night, but the family was informed only at 5 am.

SDOP Abhishek Gautam confirmed Govind's arrest. He said he would be able to say something only after looking into the allegation and the case.