On Tuesday, a 58-year-old Indian detainee died while in the custody of US immigration officials at a hospital in Atlanta. Atul Kumar Babubhai Patel was detained in the last week for allegedly not possessing the necessary immigration documents while entering the country.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have taken Mr Patel into custody at the Atlanta City Detention Center for two days. The preliminary cause of Mr Patel’s death is congestive heart failure, said the officials. Mr Patel arrived at the Atlanta airport on 10th May on a flight from Ecuador.

In a statement, the Immigration Department said that the US Customs and Border Protection denied Mr Patel’s entry into the country as he did not possess the necessary immigration documents while entering. Mr Patel was then transferred to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mr Patel received an initial medical screening at the Atlanta City Detention Center and he was found to have high blood pressure and diabetes.

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On Saturday, a nurse while checking Mr Patel's blood sugar noticed that he had a breathing problem following which he was shifted to a hospital where he passed away.

The immigration department said that it is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and the department is also "undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of the incident, as it does in all such cases".

The agency has informed about the death of Mr Patel to Indian consular representatives, who informed Mr Patel's family about the death of Mr Patel.

The agency said that the deaths in its custody are "exceedingly rare" and also occur in a fraction of the rate of the US detained population as a whole.

Mrudula Duddempudi.