Jail suicide attempt

TT, Jalpaiguri, July 31: A KLO linkman, arrested earlier this year in connection with a bomb blast here last year, allegedly tried to commit suicide by slashing his throat with a blade at the Jalpaiguri Central Correctional Home today.

He is under treatment at the Jalpaiguri district hospital. Doctors said he was critical.

Ram Shankar Basak, from Rajganj block in Jalpaiguri district, was arrested in January this year in connection with last December’s Bajrapara blast that killed six persons.

KLO militants Narayan Roy, Pradip Roy, Manchalal Singha, Tom Adhikary and Santosh Roy were also arrested for their involvement in the blast. All are in the central correctional home.

“A barber visits the jail six days a week. The inmates are allowed to get haircut or a shave four days a week. The other two days, employees are allowed in the facility,” said a source.

Today, around 11am, when the barber was in the jail, Ram Shankar asked for a blade to cut his nails. “He slit his throat with the blade,” said the source. He was rushed to the district hospital. Later, a suicide note was recovered from him that said no one was responsible for his death and he does not want to live anymore.

Madhusudan Sarkar, superintendent of the correctional home, said: “He is here since February 13. Preliminary investigation has revealed that he was suffering from depression. We are conducting an inquiry.”