Magistrate Neeraj Kumari arrives at Chas jail to probe Jahangir Khan’s death on Monday. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Feb. 22: An inmate of Chas jail who attempted self-immolation last evening to protest against stringent prison rules succumbed to burns at Bokaro General Hospital early this morning.

The death of Jahangir Khan (37) spurred angry demonstrations at the jail for four hours, prompting Bokaro deputy commissioner Satyendra Singh to order a magisterial inquiry. The entire investigation will be videographed for the National Human Rights Commission.

Singh said magistrate Neeraj Kumari would present her report within three days. Action would be taken if any jail official were found guilty of negligence, he added.

Sources said Jahangir, a native of Hazaribagh, was booked for several cases of robbery in Ramgarh, Bokaro and his home district. He had led the Reliance petrol pump plunder at Chas in 2007. Six months ago, he was brought here on remand from Hazaribagh jail.

Initially, Jahangir was lodged in ward No. 2 with two other criminals — Santosh Kumar and Anshuman. The trio soon became trouble for the jail authorities. Last week, drugs and mobile phone chargers were found on them. Jahangir was shifted to ward No. 10 after the incident.

Infuriated, he decided on self-immolation to protest against jail rules. Around 6.30pm yesterday, he poured kerosene — distributed among prisoners to light up lanterns in their respective wards after sunset — and set himself on fire.

He was rushed to hospital with more than 75 per cent burns and lost his battle against death around 4am today.

Superintendent of Chas jail Francis Kongari said Jahangir had time and again violated jail rules and had to be kept alone in a cell.

Chas SDO Manoj Kumar said security on the jail premises had been beefed up.