M. Jaishankar, who was an accused in 15 cases of rape and murder, killed himself in his jail cell at Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara early on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old, who was serving 10 years of concurrent imprisonment at the jail after being convicted in three out of the 15 cases, allegedly slit his throat with a shaving blade. According to prison officials, Jaishankar managed to get the blade from a barber in the prison on Monday.
The incident came to light when security guards found him lying in a pool of blood around 2.15 a.m. They took him to the prison hospital, and later to Victoria Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Kept in isolated cell
Jaishankar had been kept in an isolated cell as he was a threat to other inmates.
The jurisdictional Parappana Agrahara police have taken up a case of unnatural death. Inquiries revealed that Jaishankar was being treated for depression.
Between 2008 and 2011, 15 cases of rape and murder were registered against him in Chennai, Dharmapuri, Hosur, Salem, Thirupathur, Bengaluru, Chitradurga, Hiriyuru, Kaduru, Monakalmuru and Tumakuru police station limits.
Multiple escape attempts
Jaishankar began his crime spree with the rape and murder of a 45-year-old woman near Hosur in July 2009. The police launched a massive manhunt for him after he was accused of brutally raping and murdering a police constable in Tamil Nadu in August 2009. By the time he was arrested in October, he was already accused of 13 murders. However, when he was being taken to a court in Salem in March 2011, Jaishankar fled and arrived at Ballari. He was arrested by the Karnataka police at Zalki in Vijayapura district later in May 2011 and shifted to Bengaluru Central Prison.
In September 2013, he donned a police uniform within the jail and staged a sensational escape by scaling the 30-ft prison wall. The police found him soon after in an injured state at a hut near the central prison. Since then, he was kept in a separate cell, said a senior police officer.
