Ghaziabad, Oct 20 : The death of Ashutosh Asthana, the prime accused-cum-witness in a corruption case involving judges of the higher judiciary, in Dasna jail at Ghaziabad is the latest of the 93 mysterious deaths of inmates - including those involved in high profile crimes - since it was set up in 1997.

Regarding Asthana's death, district MMG hospital superintendent A. K. Singh said his body became bluish which suggested the consumption of some poisonous substance. He said whether it was a suicide attempt or the poison was administered to him was a case of thorough micro-analysis.

Former Bar Association president Nahar Singh Yadav moved the apex court to stop the district administration from cremating the dead body but he was too late since Asthana's last rites were held Sunday itself.

The jail has seen nine such deaths in the first 10 months of 2009, including Frontier Mail blast accused Shakeel who committed suicide by hanging himself from a window by his shirt. A magisterial enquiry ruled out any security lapses.

The jail recorded four deaths in 2008, nine in 2007 and eight in 2006.

Ravinder Pradhan, the main accused in the Prof Kavita Chaudhary murder case died due to consumption of glass pieces in the jail. However, the jail superintendent V. K. Singh said Pradhan might have consumed the glass pieces during childhood and it could have resulted in the fatality when he was in the jail.

Similarly, several other inmates - wanted in some high profile cases - like Qamaruddin, Iqbal Singh, Jiji Hasan, Guru Jan Singh, Noor Hasan and Thakur Singh also died in mysterious circumstances while in the jail.

However, magisterial enquiries conducted into their deaths exonerated the jail administration and found no loopholes in the prison's security.(IANS)