Beur Central Jail

Patna, Dec.11: A Beur Central Jail inmate allegedly tried to commit suicide today by hanging himself from the ceiling of the prisoners’ ward.

The jail authorities described the incident as a “drama” by Mantu Sao, who was convicted in an arms case, to mount pressure on them in the wake of a recent drive to seize mobile phones from all prison inmates.

Beur jail superintendent Shivendra Priyadarshi said around 10.40am, some prisoners raised an alarm that Mantu had tied a piece of cloth around his neck and was trying to kill himself.

On being alerted, the jail warders rushed to the spot, took Mantu in custody and seized the cloth that he was trying to tie around his neck.

“Though we did not find any injury mark or bruise, we admitted him to the jail hospital. As Mantu had been creating trouble inside the prison for the past few months, we decided to shift him, along with four others, to the Phulwari jail,” Priyadarshi told The Telegraph.

The jail superintendent said two mobile phones were found on Mantu during a recent search operation. “In spite of earlier warnings, he was found with a new cellphone,” Priyadarshi said, adding that three other cases were pending against him.

Mantu’s wife, Pinki Devi, alleged that her husband was lodged in the jail for six years. “Bhola Sao, who was also convicted with my husband in the same case, was released about a year ago,” she alleged.

She accused the jail authorities of harassing Mantu on one pretext after another. “My husband had become frustrated because of this. I cannot rule out that he tried to kill himself because of this frustration,” Pinki said, adding that she would move the state human rights commission for justice.

Sources in the jail said besides being convicted in an Arms Act case, Mantu was serving term in a number of other cases. The sources added that this was the reason that Mantu’s term in the Beur jail was not over.