A youth, accused of being the notorious slasher “Blade Man”, has not allowed incarceration to interfere with his educational goals.

In judicial custody since April 21, the young man is taking his BCom Part II examination. Sources said he would be escorted to the examination centre — a college in Patna — to write his next paper.

“He is a BCom student at a college in Patna City. He has been in judicial custody for the past three weeks. The police said they have circumstantial evidence against him. But even after he was arrested, there have been a number of slashing incidents. His parents have been trying to get him out. He had requested the court to allow him to take his examination and was granted the permission,” a family member of the youth said.

The Telegraph is withholding the name of the youth, the examination centre and the date of the test to prevent any untoward incident. On April 19, 2012, some residents of Patna City had tried to lynch a middle-aged person whom they suspected to be the “Blade Man”. When the cops refused to surrender him to the mob, they attacked a police station, forcing the men in uniform to resort to lathicharge.

The “Blade Man” attacks began on April 17. Around 40 attacks have been reported in Patna City and Patna.

On Saturday, the citizens apprehended one Vishnu Sinha, a rag picker, who had several cuts on his body at Chowk police station area. The man was handed over to the police.

The police said the man told the cops that it was his habit to cut himself. He was also addicted to marijuana. A blade was recovered from his possession. He, too, was sent to judicial custody.

“The man’s behaviour was weird. A blade was found in his possession. His body had many cut marks. He was detained and sent to judicial custody,” a police officer told The Telegraph.

The rag picker is the second “Blade Man” suspect in judicial custody.

The attacks have, however, allegedly continued unabated.

A 22-year-old woman allegedly sustained slash injuries at Hajiganj under Chowk police station on Saturday. The victim, identified as Sangeeta Kumari, is a teacher at the Brilliant Children Academy located in the same area.

The incident occurred around 8am. When the young teacher reached the school, she found her left hand bleeding from a slash wound.

Sources said the Khajekala police arrested a woman on the suspicion of being the notorious slasher. The cops, however, did not confirm the arrest nor provided any information on the matter.

A resident said: “It seems that the police are just catching hold of anyone and forwarding the person to prison. Buying a blade for shaving is also risky.”

The police, however, denied the accusation and said a strict procedure was followed before detaining anyone.