RANCHI: A day after a 40-year-old man allegedly died of hunger in Bokaro district , Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday ordered an inquiry into his death. Soren directed the food and civil supplies secretary and the deputy commissioner to carry out the probe into the death of Bhukhal Ghasi, a member of the SC community, at Shankartola Kamra village.

On Saturday, Ghasi’s wife Rekha was quoted by reporters as saying that they did not have any food for the last few days as they had no ration.

Soon after the CM gave the order, which he later tweeted, officials of the Bokaro district administration visited Ghasi’s village. They provided 20kg of rice and a ration card to the family members on the spot but denied the death had occurred due to hunger.

Talking to TOI over phone, BDO of Kasmar block, under which Ghasi’s village falls, Rajesh Kumar Sinha said, “Reports about (Ghasi’s) hunger death are completely false and driven by propaganda by a section of people. The clinical test by a medical board has shown that blood sugar levels of the deceased were normal, which cannot be the case if he had died of hunger. We also found foodgrains in the house of the deceased during our visit on Saturday and there were enough traces to prove that food was cooked and consumed by the family members on Friday. We have also taken video footage of food in the house.”

Sinha, who visited Ghasi’s village again on Sunday, said the deceased had returned home from Bangalore, where he was working as a labourer, around June-July last year after the death of his parents. He had five children, two sons and three daughters. The two sons are grown up and are working as daily wagers while the three minor sisters are studying in the government school at the village, the BDO said, adding that three brothers of the deceased also live nearby and collectively own 1.35 acres of land.

Sinha conceded that the family did not have a ration card, but said they received foodgrains till July last year on the card issued in the name of Ghasi’s late father. “In August, Ghasi had applied for a ration card which was pending approval. The district had reached saturation point for distribution of ration for the fiscal; hence, his card was pending,” Sinha said.

The BDO further said the family members of Ghasi and the brothers of the deceased had given a formal statement on Sunday saying that his death was due to illness.

Sinha said, “Since his return to Kasmar last year, Ghasi was bedridden and suffering from hydrothorax. Though a few family members tried to take him to Rims for treatment, he couldn’t be admitted as there was no one to accompany him as an attendant. He had an MNREGA job card but had stopped availing work because of his health condition.”

This is the first instance of alleged starvation death since the new government of JMM-Congress-RJD combine took charge in December last year. During last year’s assembly polls, the alliance had blamed the previous NDA government under then chief minister Raghubar Das for over two dozen deaths allegedly due to hunger.

