Uphaar cinema manager lodged in Tihar dies

A 65-year-old manager with Uphaar cinemas, in Tihar Jail since 2007, died under mysterious circumstances on Friday.

A 65-year-old manager with Uphaar cinemas, in Tihar Jail since 2007, died under mysterious circumstances on Friday.

HT Image

Ajit Chaudhary, a jail official said, was suffering from asthma and complained of chest pain on Friday around 3 pm. “He was shifted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where he died later in the day,” said a senior jail official.

Chaudhury was arrested last year when a city court pronounced him guilty along with 11 others in the Uphaar fire case in which 59 people were killed. The cinema hall in Green Park was engulfed in flames on June 13, 1997.

Chaudhary, who was then the administration manager, had fled from the hall soon after fire broke out and the fire safety measures were not followed. He was charged under Section 304 (II), culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

He was in jail number 1 at Tihar along with others convicted in the case, including the Ansal brothers.

A judicial enquiry has been ordered into his death. Postmortem was conducted on Saturday. He is survived by wife and children. “There does not seem to be a foul play but a metropolitan magistrate is enquiring into the case,” said the official.