Aligarh (UP), Dec 22 (IANS): A young man, arrested on murder charge, died after he allegedly tried to escape through a manhole in Aligarh district prison.

His body was recovered from the manhole on Tuesday.

However, jail authorities refused to admit him and claimed that he could have committed suicide. 24-year-old man was arrested on murder charges.

Information about his death was revealed through CCTV footage, after jail authorities did not find him at the premises during the counting of the prisoners.

In the video, he was seen standing near the manhole and after a few seconds he entered it silently. The manhole has a drain that runs under the jail walls and opens outside the premises, jail officials said.

The manhole cover had been left unlocked as its cleaning was scheduled.

Monu Kumar, 24, belonged to Hathras and was lodged in the Aligarh district jail since November 13 for a murder of a woman.

Pramod Kumar Singh, jailor of the district prison, said that his hearing was scheduled on Tuesday.

"At the time of counting, he was found missing. When we could not locate him anywhere, we checked the CCTV footage and found him entering the manhole behind the barrack," he said.

He further said that as soon as the inmate was brought out of the manhole, doctors were called in and they declared him dead.

Jail superintendent Vipin Mishra said that his family has been informed about the incident.