Salem: In a tragic development on Friday, a remand prisoner in the Salem central jail attempted suicide in a magistrate court here when he was produced by policemen for extension of his remand.
Salem prison and police officials said 35-year-old Sundararajan, of Karumalaikoodal in Mettur taluk of Salem district was arrested in connection with an alleged murder and lodged in the central prison here.
Special armed police constables took him for remand extension in a van here to 6th Magistrate court, when Sundararajan's action shocked the entire court hall. He suddenly took out a blade from underneath his footwear and started slashing his neck, hands and other parts of the body with it.
As blood was oozing and Sundararjan fainted and fell, 108 Ambulance was summoned and the poor man was taken to Salem GH for immediate medical attention and admitted to its ICU.
Slowly regaining consciousness, Sundararajan, said that inside the prison, cops were "torturing" him on the pretext that he was keeping ganja and cell phone with him. This drove him to attempt suicide, the remand prisoner said in a complaint against the jail wardens.
The Hasthampatti police who took down his testimony have registered a case against the concerned prison staff and are investigating. Salem prison officials said the entire episode was being investigated including how the prisoner managed to have a blade in his possession.
