A 36-year-old inmate of a drug deaddiction centre in South Dinajpur was allegedly beaten to death on Wednesday.

Police have registered an unnatural death case and have initiated a probe.

Deceased Abhishek Ghosh, who was from Patiram, was admitted to the centre on April 7 for treatment. The centre is located in the Chakhai area of Patiram.

On Wednesday, around 10am, two employees of the centre brought Ghosh to the Balurghat district hospital.

“They went to the emergency wing and tried to get him admitted. As the on-duty doctors and others asked the patient's name, they gave misleading information. They also told the doctors that the person was injured after falling at home. When questioned, they fled the hospital. Meanwhile, the doctors found that the person had already died,” said a source.

Suspecting foul play, hospital authorities informed the police.

“The body remained unidentified for nearly three hours until his family arrived,” the source added.

Ghosh’s family, on the other hand, said they received a phone call on Wednesday morning from the centre.

“We were told he had suddenly fallen ill. Soon after, we were told he had died. Later, as we tried to contact the centre, no one answered our calls,” said Sukamal Sarkar, an uncle of the deceased.

The family reached the hospital and saw Ghosh's body, which had multiple injury marks on his head, neck, arms and lips. "We suspect he was severely beaten and died due to injuries,” the uncle added.

Pradip Kumar Mondal, who runs the de-addiction centre, denied the allegations.

“I was not there and have no idea what has happened. But I can say for certain that he was not murdered,” said Mondal.

Bikram Prasad, the deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) in Balurghat, said they had begun a probe. “We are waiting for the post-mortem report," he said.