A local court in Ludhiana has ordered a halt to the autopsy of a Ludhiana Central Jail inmate who died by suspected suicide, after prison authorities could not locate any family members to claim his body.
Incident Details
Security personnel discovered the body of Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Batala in Gurdaspur district, inside a prison washroom at approximately 6:30 am on Tuesday. According to officials, the body was found hanging from a window grill positioned nine feet high, which could only be reached by using a low partition wall.
The post-mortem examination was initially scheduled for Wednesday. However, Judicial Magistrate First Class Karanbir Singh Batra deferred the procedure for 72 hours to allow authorities time to contact the inmate's next of kin.
Inmate's Isolation
The delay has brought attention to the complete isolation Sukhwinder Singh experienced during his year-long imprisonment. Jail records indicate that the emergency contact number he had provided belonged to a former cellmate who had since been released on bail. Prison administration data confirmed that no visitors had met with him since his admission on May 3, 2025.
Sukhwinder Singh was being held as an undertrial prisoner following his arrest by Division Number 5 police for attempted illegal possession of property in Ashok Nagar, Ludhiana.
History of Custodial Deaths
This incident is the latest in a series of suspected suicides and custodial deaths at the Ludhiana facility in recent years. In October 2025, a 27-year-old inmate who was HIV-positive and serving sentences for two drug peddling convictions died by suicide inside a barracks bathroom.
A separate judicial probe concluded in September 2023 determined that the 2019 death of another inmate was also a suicide. That case prompted police to register an abetment case against unidentified individuals. The inmate had fallen ill from poisoning three days after his arrest under the NDPS Act and later died during treatment at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala.
