Rajahmundry(AP):  A 35-year-old prisoner, serving sentence at Central Prison here in connection with a murder case, allegedly tried to commit suicide by drinking a disinfectant in the jail premises today, police said.  

The prisoner, identified as Kishore, drank phenyl used in bathrooms as disinfectant, while alleging harassment by jail authorities, an officer at Outpost Police Station in government hospital here said.

Another jail inmate saw him attempting suicide and informed the jail authorities, who then rushed Kishore to Rajahmundry Government General Hospital where he again tried to take the extreme step by slashing his hand with a sharp edged steel glass, he said.

Central Prison Superintendent K Nutan said Kishore had earlier been awarded life imprisonment in a murder case, but later his sentence was reduced to 10 years following his good conduct in the jail.

Terming Kishore's allegation of harassment as “baseless,” Nutan claimed that he had earlier also made a suicide bid in the prison and that he was taking such steps out of depression.

The prisoner was undergoing treatment at the hospital.  A case has been registered in this regard, police said, adding further investigation is on.